The State Department aims to cut substantially more employees than generally expected: some 3,400 instead of roughly 2,000, report GovExec’s Eric Katz and Nextgov’s David Dimolfetta. That’s because the 700 jobs that will be eliminated in a departmental reorganization will not count toward the planned 15-percent reduction in the department’s roughly 17,000-person domestic workforce, and because foreign service officers whose jobs are eliminated are not expected to be permitted to apply for other roles.
These details could be altered before layoff notices go out starting in early June. They were spelled out in State officials’ notes of a briefing to lawmakers, which were obtained by Government Executive and corroborated by employees familiar with the meeting and the department’s plan. Read on, here.
Welcome to this Friday edition of The D Brief, a newsletter dedicated to developments affecting the future of U.S. national security, brought to you by Ben Watson and Bradley Peniston. Share your tips and feedback here. And if you’re not already subscribed, you can do that here. On this day in 1941, the British Royal Navy obtained a Nazi Enigma machine for encrypted communications when they captured German submarine U-110.
Around the Defense Department
Trump’s Pentagon has ordered an estimated 1,000 service members to voluntarily leave the military as part of the White House’s opposition to transgender troops wearing the uniform. The updated orders (PDF) were issued Thursday, two days after the Supreme Court authorized Trump’s transgender ban (PDF) while litigation opposing the ban proceeds.
Out of 2 million total troops, more than 4,000 transgender people serve in either the National Guard, Reserve, or Active Duty, the New York Times reported in late February, citing Defense Department data.
Rewind: In the executive order banning transgender troops from serving, Trump alleged these service members “adoption of a gender identity inconsistent with an individual’s sex conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life.” According to Trump, “A man’s assertion that he is a woman, and his requirement that others honor this falsehood, is not consistent with the humility and selflessness required of a service member.” The Pentagon then issued a memo instructing “service members who have a current diagnosis or history of, or exhibit symptoms consistent with, gender dysphoria [to] be processed for separation from military service.” Seven litigants sued; 12 more plaintiffs joined the case since, and their case is still proceeding through the U.S. court system.
Worth noting: “[J]udges are required to show ‘substantial deference’ to the Defense Department’s judgment on military issues,” NBC News reminded its audience this week, citing the words of Solicitor General D. John Sauer, who was appointed by Trump.
Pentagon: “Approximately 1,000 Service members who have self-identified as being diagnosed with gender dysphoria will begin the voluntary separation process,” spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement Thursday. “The Department will extend the voluntary separation period for 30 days for Active Component Service members, and 60 days for Reserve Component Service members, and proceed with processing for involuntary separations after those periods.”
For what it’s worth, “Neither the [Supreme Court] justices in the majority or dissent explained their votes, which is not uncommon in emergency appeals,” Lita Baldor of the Associated Press reports. “The court’s three liberal justices said they would have kept the policy on hold,” she added. Read more, here.
ICYMI: Op-ed: “Ideological purges reduce deterrence, readiness, and effectiveness. Just ask Stalin.” Banning transgender servicemembers will have effects far beyond the careers of a few thousand troops, argues Bree Fram, an Air Force colonel who is one of the military’s highest-ranking transgender troops.
Lawmakers tried to hash out details of the U.S. Army’s transformation plan during an open hearing again on Thursday, as the defense-industry executive nominated to be the service’s undersecretary fielded questions at his confirmation hearing.
The nominee is Anduril employee Mike Obadal, who retired as an Army colonel in 2023, Defense One’s Meghann Myers reports. Obadal appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee a week after his former service released a plan to slash programs, civilian and senior military positions, and more, and did so with no advance notice to Congress, whose support is needed if the proposal is to move ahead. Neither the services nor the Pentagon have said how those cuts will be determined or how the process is proceeding.
Voice of concern: “What bothers me about the approach that’s being taken in the Pentagon, and frankly, in some other agencies, is that it starts with a number and then works backward,” Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, said during the Thursday hearing.
Another concern: The Pentagon’s “revolving door” effect. “Just this past week, the Army announced its transformation initiative, and a huge amount of that is geared towards drones and other things that Anduril, your former company, or your current company, is neck-deep in,” Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., said during the hearing. Relatedly, in an April 11 ethics disclosure, Obadal declared that he would not divest his holdings in Anduril if confirmed. The Intercept, which first reported on the disclosure, later discovered that he holds other defense-industry stocks as well.
At the hearing, Obadal did not say whether he will divest himself of the equity he holds in Anduril, but said he would follow the Office of Government Ethics’ guidelines, which would prohibit him from participating in any procurement decisions involving Anduril. Continue reading, here.
Additional reading:
Trump 2.0
Boeing has told the Air Force it can deliver new Air Force One jets by 2027 if the service agrees to loosen some requirements, Defense One’s Audrey Decker reported Thursday.
“We are looking at the requirements that are being potentially traded off to get to that date, and so I would not necessarily guarantee that date, but they’re proposing to bring it into 2027,” Darlene Costello, the Air Force’s acting acquisition chief, said Wednesday during a House Armed Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee hearing. “If we can come to agreement on the requirements changes that get us to that point, that may be possible,” she added.
However, she also cautioned that some of the Boeing-proposed trade-offs might not be implemented, so the service is working with the White House to decide “what’s acceptable from a capability standpoint for those aircraft.”
Notable: The service has already made some moves to help Boeing move faster, including lowering security-clearance standards to make it easier for the company to find workers, Decker writes. Meantime, Trump has reportedly hired L3Harris to modify a Boeing 747 once owned by the Qatari royal family to use in the interim, the Wall Street Journal reported last week. That retrofitted jet could be ready for presidential use as soon as this fall. More, here.
Related reading:
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