The leadership of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has offered its employees the opportunity to resign and receive eight months of salary and benefits.
This is reported by The Wall Street Journal.
This is an attempt to bring the agency into line with President Donald Trumpʼs priorities, which include fighting Mexican drug cartels and confronting China.
A similar proposal was made to federal civil servants in late January. But the CIA is likely the first intelligence agency to be extended the initiative.
CIA Assistant Director John Ratcliffe says the agency is suspending hiring new employees, although some have already received preliminary job offers. Some of them may be withdrawn if candidates do not have the appropriate experience for the CIAʼs new goals of combating China and the "trade war".
The Trump administrationʼs offer of severance pay has not yet attracted much interest among civil servants. So far, more than 20 000 federal government officials (about 1% of the civil service) have agreed to leave their positions, Bloomberg notes. The main questions are whether they will be able to quickly find new jobs or return to civil service under another US administration.
For decades after its creation, the CIAʼs work focused on Americaʼs rivalry with the Soviet Union. After the September 11 attacks, the agency focused on combating international terrorism. But in recent years, the CIA has focused on China, which is seen as the greatest long-term threat to the United States.
- After Donald Trumpʼs inauguration, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was launched in the US Presidential Administration under the leadership of billionaire Elon Musk. This structure is intended to reduce the number of officials and government spending.
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