CIA offers all employees layoffs and compensation

The Central Intelligence Agency has offered to lay off all of its employees, citing the agency’s goal of aligning with President Donald Trump’s priorities, according to people familiar with the matter. A CIA spokesman said in a statement that the moves were aimed at aligning the agency with the goals of new CIA Director John Ratcliffe, reported by Reuters.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe

Director Ratcliffe is taking swift action to ensure that CIA employees are responsive to the administration’s national security priorities. The moves are part of a comprehensive strategy to reinvigorate the agency, a CIA spokesman said in a statement. The agency does not disclose its budget or the number of people it employs.

The report of the proposals falls in line with a sweeping reorganization of the US government initiated by the Trump administration, which has fired and suspended hundreds of civil servants in the first steps to reduce the bureaucracy and install loyalists.

White House and Federal Workers

Last week, the White House offered 2 million civilian federal employees the opportunity to stop working this week and receive pay and benefits through September 30, as Trump seeks to reduce the size of the government. Earlier on Tuesday, unions representing US civil servants filed a lawsuit to block the Trump administration’s plan.

Ratcliffe, a former member of the House of Representatives who served as director of national intelligence during Trump’s first term, was confirmed by the US Senate as CIA director days after Trump took office for his second term.