WASHINGTON: The Defense Department is going to offer a new round of voluntary resignations and retirements to the civilian workforce, but details are slim.

In a brief memo, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Pentagon would “immediately” offer voluntary early retirements and begin another deferred resignation plan. He warned that “exemptions should be rare,” but provided no specifics on what the offers will look like or say whether they would go out to the entire civilian workforce of more than 900,000.

And, while he signed the memo on Friday, it wasn’t released to Pentagon leaders until Monday, and there was no information on when or how those offers will be distributed and when the deadlines will be.

Hegseth in the memo said he wants to use the voluntary programs in order to “maximize participation so that we can minimize the number of involuntary actions that may be required.”

The cuts are part of the broader effort by billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk ’s Department of Government Efficiency Service to slash the federal workforce and dismantle US agencies.

In mid-March, a senior defense official said roughly 50,000 to 60,000 civilian jobs will be cut in the Defense Department, in an effort to reach the goal of a 5% to 8% cut in that workforce.

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