The Trump administration is moving forward with a plan to reduce the size of the U.S. intelligence community, including a significant personnel cut at the Central Intelligence Agency, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The plan includes downsizing the CIA by roughly 1,200 positions over the next several years, with additional reductions at other key agencies such as the National Security Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the National Reconnaissance Office, and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. Specifics of the proposed cuts, recently shared with lawmakers, have not been previously disclosed.
The CIA does not release its official headcount, though it’s estimated at approximately 22,000. The proposed cuts amount to around five percent of that workforce. More than 500 of the 1,200 planned reductions involve employees who have already opted for early retirement, and the remainder would be phased out gradually through hiring freezes rather than terminations.
Several thousand more positions are expected to be eliminated across the broader intelligence community. At the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), over 100 staffers have accepted a voluntary resignation offer that pays them through September 30. Director Tulsi Gabbard is also evaluating consolidation options for several intelligence centers under her purview, including those focused on counterintelligence, terrorism, and weapons proliferation.
A March 31 message from CIA head John Ratcliffe signaled the shift in tone: “For decades, CIA has known nothing but growth, but the years of growing budgets and resources are behind us. Moving forward, you will be part of a smaller, more elite and efficient workforce,” it stated.
