The CIA plans to eliminate 1,200 positions in the US intelligence community, along with thousands more, according to a report released on Friday.
According to the report, members of Congress have been informed of the planned cuts, which will occur over a number of years and be primarily accomplished through hiring reductions rather than layoffs.
The CIA director, John Ratcliffe, “is moving quickly to ensure the CIA workforce is responsive to the administration’s national security priorities,” a spokesperson for the organization said when asked about the report.
The spokesperson added that “these actions are a part of a holistic strategy to infuse the agency with renewed energy, provide opportunities for rising leaders to emerge, and better position CIA to fulfill its mission.”
Ratcliffe, a Trump appointee, sworn in as the agency’s director in January, previously promised lawmakers that the agency would “produce insightful, objective, all-source analysis without allowing political or personal biases to cloud our judgment or infect our products.”
No matter how dark or difficult it may be, “we will gather intelligence, especially human intelligence,” he declared, as well as “conduct covert action under the president’s direction, going places no one else can go, and doing things no one else can do.”
When he addressed CIA officers, he said, “Belize and get ready to make a difference if all of this sounds like what you signed up for.” If not, then it’s time to start a new line of work.
As part of Trump’s government’s downsizing strategy, the CIA also announced in March that it would fire an undetermined number of junior officers.
Not everyone who demonstrates aptitude for the job will be able to handle the demands of the job, according to a spokesperson for the organization. Officers with behavioral issues or those who are deemed to be poor candidates for intelligence work will be fired.
