Hegseth issues new guidance on DOD civilian hiring freeze

The secretaries of the Army, Navy and Air Force can request exemptions for civilian hiring freezes at “readiness-centric” locations, according to a new memo from Secretary of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

The SecDef, who previously ordered a civilian hiring freeze in a Feb. 28 directive, laid out additional criteria for exemptions in a March 14 memo to senior Pentagon leadership, combatant commanders, and defense agency and field activity directors.

“While the Department remains under the hiring freeze, DoD will only hire mission-essential employees into positions that directly contribute to our warfighting readiness,” Hegseth wrote in the new directive, noting that he had previously identified exemptions for positions essential to immigration enforcement, national security and public safety.

“The Secretaries of the Military Departments may approve hiring freeze exemptions for the civilian workforce of their respective Military Departments after review by the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness (USD(P&R)). USD(P&R) will review and approve all exemption requests for other organizations within the Department. This authority may not be further delegated,” he wrote.

Hegseth added: “The above exemption authorities should use, and the DoD Component heads should request, exemptions to sustain the workforce at readiness-centric facilities including, but not limited to, shipyards, depots, and medical treatment facilities.”

The undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness will publish additional guidance on hiring freeze exemption requests, Hegseth noted.

USNI News previously reported that civilian mariners and employees who work at the Navy’s public shipyards and maintenance entities are exempt from the hiring freeze, citing comments by Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jim Kilby at a Senate Armed Services Committee last week.

Hegseth stated in his memo that the ongoing hiring freeze is intended to “optimize our Federal workforce, reduce inefficiencies, and align our resources to the President’s top national security priorities.”

Pentagon officials are looking to fire thousands of probationary workers and ultimately shrink DOD’s civilian workforce by 5 to 8 percent, in line with the Trump administration’s DOGE efforts.

The department employs hundreds of thousands of civilians. According to an official financial report for 2023, the DOD had more than 778,000 civilian employees that year.