Some recent new hires at the CIA have been fired, days after a federal judge permitted the Trump administration to terminate intelligence officers working in roles related to diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, according to a report.
Some probationary employees have been called to meet at a location away from the agency’s Langley, Virginia, headquarters and to surrender their security credentials, sources told the New York Times. The layoffs are part of a wider Department of Government Efficiency-led effort to shrink the federal workforce.
A CIA spokesperson confirmed to the outlet that some officers hired in the last two years have been laid off.
It’s not immediately clear how many spies have been terminated, but the spokesperson said not all probationary employees would be fired. The Independent has reached out to the agency for more information.
Some employees have been reluctant to pick up their phones, expecting the call to meet away from Langley, the outlet reported.
Few appeared to be fired in crucial components, such as collecting intel on China and Mexican drug cartels, sources told the outlet. On Tuesday, President Donald Trump implemented tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China in order to hold these nations “accountable to their promises of halting illegal immigration and stopping poisonous fentanyl and other drugs from flowing into our country,” his executive order states.
The firings come days after a district judge in Virginia denied the request of 11 fired intelligence officers assigned to DEI programs for a temporary restraining order to CIA director John Ratcliffe and the Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard to halt terminations as the court proceedings continue.
Gabbard last week fired more than 100 spies across 15 different spy agencies after she said sexually explicit chats were unearthed on an official government instant messaging forum.
The judge determined on February 27 that Ratcliffe has "sweeping statutory authority" to fire CIA employees at will. The judge urged Ratcliffe to permit the fired employees to appeal their terminations, the outlet reported.
The intelligence officers argue in the lawsuit that Trump’s January 20 executive order ending DEI programs, which he described as “illegal and immoral,” don’t extend to the firings of employees temporarily assigned to work on these efforts.
“The executive order did not call for the termination of officers temporarily assigned to DEIA programs, and cautioned that the order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law,” the complaint states.
The terminations also come days after reports surfaced that the intelligence services of Russia, China, and other foreign adversaries are hoping to exploit the DOGE purges by trying to recruit terminated U.S. federal workers.
There have been discussions at the CIA about the security risks of terminating employees who may possess classified information or knowledge of the agency’s operations and inner workings, CNN reported last week.
When it comes to intelligence agencies, “you take whatever number of employees who are gonna get cut loose and they have knowledge of sensitive programs — that by definition is an insider risk,” a U.S. official told the outlet. “You’re just rolling the dice that these folks are gonna honor their secrecy agreement and not volunteer to a hostile intelligence service.”
