After Entire CIA Workforce Is Offered Buyouts Under Musk Plan, Democrats See Potential Intelligence Disaster

President Donald Trump’s efforts to reshape the federal workforce led the White House to direct the CIA to extend buyouts to its entire workforce. A spokesperson for the CIA said the move is part of CIA director John Ratcliffe‘s efforts to “ensure the CIA workforce is responsive to the Administration’s national security priorities” as part of a “holistic strategy to infuse the Agency with renewed energy.”

The CIA has referred to the buyout as “deferred resignation.” An aide to Radcliffe said that the offer acts as an exit opportunity for those who joined after the Sept. 11, 200,1 terrorist attacks to retire.

The White House requested in an executive order that the CIA share the names of officers who were still in the probationary phase of their training and who had served two years or fewer. The list of names was sent in an unclassified email, which some have called a “counterintelligence disaster.”

It included a list of young operatives hired to focus on China. The identities of people in their positions are usually closely guarded to prevent Chinese hackers from identifying them. Former CIA officials voiced concerns that the list could be passed on to young software engineers working with Elon Musk’s DOGE team, making them easier targets for foreign intelligence services.

“Exposing the identities of officials who do extremely sensitive work would put a direct target on their backs for China,” said top Intelligence Committee Senator Mark Warner (D-Virginia).

Former CIA director William Burns had devoted much of the CIA’s efforts to recruiting diverse officers to enhance the company’s international communications. In 2021, the CIA focused its budget on China-related espionage, which has since doubled. A mass culling of recent hires could decrease the number of Mandarin speakers and technology experts in the field.