CIA to reduce workforce by 1,200 personnel: report

WASHINGTON: The CIA plans to shrink its workforce by some 1,200 positions, while other intelligence agencies will also shed thousands of jobs, the Washington Post reported Friday.

The Trump administration has informed lawmakers about the planned cuts at the CIA, which will take place over several years and be accomplished in part through reduced hiring as opposed to layoffs, the newspaper said.

Asked about the report, a CIA spokesperson did not confirm the specifics, but said that Director John Ratcliffe “is moving swiftly to ensure the CIA workforce is responsive to the administration’s national security priorities.”

“These moves are part of a holistic strategy to infuse the agency with renewed energy, provide opportunities for rising leaders to emerge, and better position CIA to deliver on its mission,” the spokesperson said.

The CIA earlier this year became the first US intelligence agency to join a voluntary redundancy program initiated by President Donald Trump, who has vowed to radically downsize the federal workforce in the name of efficiency and frugality.

Ratcliffe previously told lawmakers that under his leadership, the agency would “produce insightful, objective, all-source analysis, never allowing political or personal biases to cloud our judgment or infect our products.”

“We will collect intelligence, especially human intelligence, in every corner of the globe, no matter how dark or difficult,” as well as “conduct covert action at the direction of the president, going places no one else can go and doing things no one else can do.”

Addressing CIA officers, he said: “If all of this sounds like what you signed up for, then buckle up and get ready to make a difference. If it doesn’t, then it’s time to find a new line of work.”