Report: CIA Offering Buyouts to Entire Staff

On Tuesday, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) reportedly offered a massive buyout to its entire workforce, in order to bring the agency into alignment with President Donald Trump’s agenda.

As reported by Fox News, the agency was the first federal agency to offer its employees the chance to resign and receive up to 8 months of paid vacation, with benefits. President Trump made the same broad offer to the entirety of the federal government, with at least 20,000 federal workers already accepting the offer. The government-wide offer expires on Thursday.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe, who was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in January, reportedly asked the White House to make the same offer specifically to the CIA, suggesting that doing so would lead to “a more aggressive” intelligence agency. Director Ratcliffe sent an email on Thursday to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), asking if he would be allowed to send an agency-wide email making the same offer.

Ratcliffe went further in his suggestions, recommending that the CIA also offer early retirement to employees who have had a long tenure with the agency. He also requested to halt the hiring of any staff that were approved in the final days of the Biden Administration.

“Director Ratcliffe is moving swiftly to ensure the CIA workforce is responsive to the Administration’s national security priorities,” said a CIA spokesman in a statement. “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.”