The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has offered all its employees to leave the agency with compensation equivalent to eight months of their salary. This was reported by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and CNN, citing sources within the administration.
According to a WSJ source, this offer is part of an effort to align the CIA’s operations with the priorities of President Donald Trump, including the fight against drug cartels.
John Ratcliffe, the CIA assistant director appointed by Trump, noted that as part of the reforms, the recruitment of new employees, who had already been offered positions, is also being frozen. Some offers may be canceled if candidates do not possess the necessary experience to carry out the agency’s new tasks, such as countering China.
At the end of January, the U.S. personnel department distributed a letter offering federal employees the option to resign with salary compensation. According to WSJ, the CIA was the first intelligence agency to offer such a program to its employees. In addition to the compensation, the dismissed CIA employees will receive other benefits, but details have not been disclosed.
