The Pentagon said on Friday it would cut 5,400 jobs as part of President Donald Trump'sdrive to slash the federal workforce, a day after some Republican lawmakers faced jeers back home from voters angry about the aggressive effort, reports The Reuters.
The cuts, due to take place next week, are a fraction of the 50,000 Defense Department job losses that some had anticipated but they might not be the last. One top official, Darin Selnick, said the Pentagon will implement a hiring freeze and could ultimately reduce its 950,000-strong civilian workforce by 5 percent to 8 percent.
The cuts are the latest in a fast-moving overhaul led by tech billionaire Elon Musk that has laid off more than 20,000 workers and dismantled programs throughout the U.S. government, from foreign aid to financial oversight.
Legal challenges have had mixed results so far, as federal judges have declined to stop the layoffs. A federal judge on Friday cleared the way for Trump to put more than 2,000 workers at the U.S. Agency for International Development on leave.
However, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked Trump from immediately firing the head of the Office of Special Counsel, an independent watchdog agency.
Also on Friday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation ordered 1,500 staffers to be transferred out of its Washington headquarters to offices around the country, according to two sources. Roughly one in four FBI employees currently work in Washington, according to government figures.
Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan
