DOD official goes on background on civilian resignations in not great release

A “senior defense official” announced “roughly 21,000 DOD civilians volunteered for deferred resignation” via DOD press release (the actual number is apparently unavailable from official sources).

This as Defense One reports, "efforts to slash the Pentagon’s civilian workforce by more than 60,000 employees are not proceeding as planned, as judicial actions and lack of communication foster uncertainty—and a new court order could force the rehiring of thousands of probationary employees."

Back to the press release for context: “The DRP, implemented by the Office of Personnel Management Jan. 28, 2025, offered most full-time federal employees — including most of the nearly 900,000 DOD civilians — the opportunity to resign with full pay and benefits until Sept. 30, 2025.”

Then an audacious reframing: “As part of DOD's effort to align its civilian workforce with national security priorities, the department has been actively processing DRP applications while working to achieve a strategic reduction in manpower of 5-8%, or approximately 50,000-60,000 employees.“

Do not fret, dear reader, for our “senior defense official said that DOD's human resources team properly vetted each employee and the role that they performed.” That official “ also addressed concerns within DOD that a 5-8% reduction in the workforce would push uniformed service members into more civilian-type roles.”

"We are confident that we can absorb [DRP] removals without detriment to our ability to continue the mission, and that's [why] we can be confident that we don't need to worry about any resulting impact on the uniformed force."

That is, “we are confident,” because “we can be confident.”

Heard.