CIA offers buyouts to workforce as Trump administration continues efforts to scale back government

The CIA has offered so-called buyouts to its workforce, a CIA spokesperson said, the latest move by the Trump administration to overhaul and scale back the federal government.

The offer of eight months of pay and benefits is similar to deferred resignation offers proposed to employees at other federal agencies. But at the CIA, some employees — including those handling high-priority tasks — will not be eligible for the offer.

“Director [John] Ratcliffe is moving swiftly to ensure the CIA workforce is responsive to the Administration’s national security priorities,” the spokesperson said by email.

During his confirmation hearing, Ratcliffe promised to keep politics out of decisions involving intelligence and said he would not use loyalty tests as a basis for hiring or firing CIA personnel.

“These moves are part of a holistic strategy to infuse the Agency with renewed energy, provide opportunities for rising leaders to emerge, and better position the CIA to deliver on its mission,” the CIA spokesperson said.

Federal employee unions and lawyers, as well as Democratic lawmakers, have warned federal workers not to accept the offers, saying that they are legally dubious and that Congress has not authorized funds for such sweeping packages.

The size of the CIA’s workforce, as at other intelligence agencies, has always been closely guarded and remains classified.

Ratcliffe, a former member of Congress from Texas who was President Donald Trump’s director of national intelligence for a time during his first term, was confirmed as CIA director on Jan. 23.