Pentagon approves 55,000 deferred resignations as workforce reduction pursuits continue to evolve

The Pentagon is in the realm of reaching the Trump administration’s topline goal of downsizing the U.S. defense civilian workforce by 5-8% through voluntary reduction efforts and other methods, officials told DefenseScoop this week.

However, they declined to verify whether Department of Defense leadership will offer another round of employee resignation opportunities in the near term. 

“For the total numbers, about 55,000 applications have been approved for Deferred Resignation Programs” during the first two rounds, a defense official said Tuesday. 

“Technically, [that total is] from when the department started realigning its civilian workforce to July 2025,” they noted.

At the start of his second term, President Donald Trump immediately directed all federal agencies to drastically trim their workforces and review existing contracts for over-spending, as part of a large-scale campaign to ultimately cut back on what his team views as wasteful investments and inefficiencies.

Inside the DOD, Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered a “strategic reduction” of 5-8%, which breaks down to about 50,000 to 60,000 employees that were slated for removal. 

DOD leadership at that time, in March, confirmed they were using three primary methods to determine who will be approved or chosen to depart. Those included cuts to probationary employees, a temporary hiring freeze, and voluntary employee participation in the deferred resignation program (DRP).

The department’s original approach to these staff reductions was heavily informed by the Elon Musk-inspired Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE team.

A defense official told DefenseScoop that the Pentagon has also recently started to issue special notices to certain employees that their specific positions are up for termination, with information regarding when they will be placed on administrative leave or other details about their path ahead with the government.

On Tuesday, they confirmed that “55 employees received reduction in force notices that were associated with workforce optimization efforts within the Department of Defense as of July 2025.”

At least another 114 individuals will be sent those reduction-in-force notices this month, after senior officials unveiled plans on Monday to slash the Defense Technical Information Center’s workforce down from 154 to 40 civilian positions.

Despite the DOD achieving a departure number that meets its initial 5-8% goal, rumors have been swirling online and in the Pentagon about whether there will be a third round of voluntary resignation options presented to personnel soon.

When asked about what employees should expect in terms of forthcoming options, the defense official said on Wednesday that they “don’t have anything on that” at this time.