Latest news with #DarinSelnick
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
DOD civilian employees given $1 spending limit for travel cards
The Defense Department effectively barred its civilian employees from using their government-issued travel charge cards, according to a DOD memo. The new spending rules, spelled out in a March 5 memorandum signed by Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Darin Selnick, came a week after President Donald Trump issued a Feb. 26 executive order outlining government cost-saving initiatives, including some that targeted federal workers' spending habits. 'DOD civilian employees must cancel all future non-exempted official travel reservations, and those currently on non-exempted travel must return to their respective permanent duty stations as soon as feasible,' the DOD memo read. The spending limit for the government-issued travel cards of federal civilian employees was officially reduced to $1.00, per the instructions. The memo exempts DOD civilian employee travel that directly supports military operations or a permanent change in station. Trump's executive order — entitled 'Implementing the President's 'Department of Government Efficiency' Cost Efficiency Initiative' — called for a 'transformation in federal spending' by cutting costs and harnessing the power of the increasingly controversial DOGE agency to do the heavy lifting. Pentagon touts $80M in DOGE cuts, but public receipts don't add up Two tenets of the executive order, 'non-essential travel justification' and 'credit card freeze,' provided more detailed instructions. Agencies will be tasked with installing a technological system in which approvals for federally funded travel for 'conferences and other non-essential purposes' are logged. Employees will not be allowed to travel unless the head of that agency submits a written justification through the system. Federal employees' credit cards will also be frozen for 30 days, save for credit cards tied to disaster relief or natural disaster response benefit assistance. Elon Musk, the Trump-appointed special government employee who leads DOGE and is the CEO of automotive company Tesla, has faced criticism for the substantial firings his agency has made in the name of cost savings. Cuts have impacted a long list of federal agencies, including the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Department of Energy, the National Parks Service and the Department of Veterans Affairs, which is planning to cut 80,000 employees. DOGE has also received backlash for emails it sent out requiring federal employees, including DOD civilians, to reply with a detailed list of their professional accomplishments for the week in an attempt to assess productivity.
Yahoo
22-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Pentagon prepares to fire thousands of civilian employees in dramatic culling
The Pentagon plans to fire 5,400 civilian employees next week as the largest federal agency seeks to eliminate 8 percent of its civilian workforce, the department announced Friday. The sweeping cuts — which could eventually extend to around 50,000 people — will gut civilians who have only been employed for one or two years and are still considered 'probationary,' meaning the terminations aren't tied to performance. 'It is simply not in the public interest to retain individuals whose contributions are not mission critical,' Darin Selnick, acting Defense undersecretary for personnel and readiness, said in a statement. The cuts follow other massive firings at government agencies, largely spurred by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency and its efforts to whack federal costs. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in a Thursday video message, said he welcomed the DOGE team when it arrived at the Pentagon late last week. "They're going to have broad access, obviously, with all the safeguards on classification,' he said. The American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 250,000 Pentagon civilians, called the move 'a slap in the face to veterans and military families everywhere that will not soon be forgotten.' About 50,000 probationary employees work in the Pentagon, all of whom are at risk of termination. About a million Defense Department civilians are spread across the globe, and about 46 percent of those are veterans. One former defense official, who was granted anonymity to discuss a developing issue, said the firings 'undermine the basic bargain that we made with these people, which was, as long as you do good work, there is a pathway to permanent work.' Senate Armed Services Committee ranking member Jack Reed, in anticipation of the move, raised alarms this week about political interference in the military. "It is going to profoundly, and unfortunately, reshape the military into a political tool of the president," the Rhode Island Democrat said. "You get a military force that will tell the president whatever he wants to hear. Disaster soon follows." The cuts, which are not relegated to the Pentagon building, will have reverberations across the military — leaving workforce gaps at bases and installations around the world. 'Taxpayers deserve to have us take a thorough look at our workforce top-to-bottom to see where we can eliminate redundancies,' Selnick said.
Yahoo
22-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Pentagon firings to begin next week in effort to cut up to 8 percent of civilian workforce
The Pentagon seeks to cut more than 5,000 civilian employees on probation status beginning next week in a bid to eventually shave off up to 8 percent of the U.S. military's civilian workforce, the building's top personnel official said Friday. The firings, part of the Trump administration's bid to gut the federal workforce, is expected to initially affect approximately 5,400 probationary workers, acting Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Darin Selnick said in a statement 'We anticipate reducing the Department's civilian workforce by 5-8% to produce efficiencies and refocus the Department on the President's priorities and restoring readiness in the force,' Selnick said. 'We expect approximately 5,400 probationary workers will be released beginning next week as part of this initial effort, after which we will implement a hiring freeze while we conduct a further analysis of our personnel needs, complying as always with all applicable laws.' The announcement comes as Defense officials are bracing for mass firings. Internal communications across multiple military services over the past week said probationary workers — those hired within the past year — were on the chopping block, with commands instructed to compile lists of those who could be let go and those to save. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth previewed those layoffs Thursday in a video posted to social media, saying it is 'not in the public interest to retain individuals whose contributions are not mission critical.' 'Taxpayers deserve to have us take a really thorough look at our workforce top to bottom — and it will be top to bottom — to see where we can find and eliminate redundancy,' he added. Hegseth also said the Pentagon has 'put out a hiring freeze' on all employees while it takes the time to identify 'a performance-based standard.' CNN earlier this week reported that the firings could run afoul of Title 10 section 129a of the U.S. Code, a law that requires the Pentagon chief to conduct 'an appropriate analysis' of how major dismissals could impact the U.S. military's lethality and readiness before they can begin such layoffs. But it appears the Trump administration, for the time being, will continue to forge ahead with its slash-and-burn approach to scaling back the federal workforce via the Department of Government Efficiency. While there is no official figure available of the total firings or layoffs, it's known that several thousand federal employees have been shown the door in President Trump's first month of presidency, including 1,000 from the Department of Veterans Affairs let go last week. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
15-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Pentagon moves to take back troops booted for refusing COVID vaccine
The Defense Department has told the military services to reach out once again to service members who were forced out or voluntarily left the military because they refused to get the COVID vaccine and see if they want to reenlist. The directive reflects the executive order signed by President Donald Trump a week after he took office, and it says that all service members who opt to return to the military will have to reenlist for at least two years. According to a memo released on X, Darin Selnick, who is working as the defense undersecretary for personnel, said the vaccine mandate was an 'unfair, overbroad, and completely unnecessary burden' on service members. It directs the services to set up a program to contact troops and begin doing so in two months. At least 8,200 troops were forced out of the military in 2021 for refusing to obey a lawful order when they declined to get the vaccine. The military services sent out notices in 2023 to all troops discharged over the vaccine, advising them they could return to the military, but just 113 have reenlisted. Defense officials said at the time that many troops appeared to use the vaccine mandate as a way to get out of their service obligations quickly and easily. It's unclear how many more may now be interested, since this new offer will allow eligible troops to come in at their previous rank and give them back pay, benefits and bonuses, as long as they meet all requirements for the reinstatement. Officials have not provided any cost estimates. To return, all would have to meet weight, fitness, medical and other requirements, and they could be refused if they now have a criminal record or other disqualifying factor. Officers would have to get recommissioned, which is a simple appointment process. The memo directs the services to 'broadly apply waiver authorities to permit maximum eligibility, as appropriate.' And, in a highly unusual move, only very senior civilian leaders confirmed by the Senate will have the authority to reject a waiver request. In addition, any recommendation to reject a service member's request for reinstatement must be sent to the secretary of that service, and that authority cannot be delegated to anyone else. Traditionally, waivers or other similar decisions are made at much lower levels. The services will have 30 days to identify those who were forced out 'solely' for refusing the vaccine order, and within 60 days must begin a program to contact them. Once service members receive the estimate of back pay and other compensation, they will have 60 days to decide whether to return to the military. The offer is only good for one year from the date of the memo, which was Feb. 7. It wasn't posted publicly until late Thursday afternoon. Service members must go through screening through the Boards for Correction of Military/Naval Records process. The memo directs the boards to move swiftly and give priority to COVID-related applications. Troops who left the service voluntarily to avoid the vaccine may also seek reinstatement but must submit a written statement saying they left for that reason. They will not receive back pay, but will have to commit to a two-year reenlistment. According to the services, 3,748 Marines were discharged, and 25 opted to reenlist since the 2023 offer went out; 1,903 Army soldiers were discharged, and 73 returned; 1,878 sailors were discharged and two returned; 671 airmen were discharged and 13 returned. The Pentagon made the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory in August 2021 for all service members, including the National Guard and Reserve. Then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said getting the vaccine was critical to maintaining a healthy force prepared to defend the nation. The Pentagon dropped the mandate in January 2023.
The Independent
14-02-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
The Pentagon moves to take back troops discharged over COVID-19 vaccine refusals
The Defense Department has told the military services to reach out once again to service members who were forced out or voluntarily left the military because they refused to get the COVID vaccine and see if they want to reenlist. The directive reflects the executive order signed by President Donald Trump a week after he took office, and it says that all service members who opt to return to the military will have to reenlist for at least two years. According to a memo released on X, Darin Selnick, who is working as the defense undersecretary for personnel, said the vaccine mandate was an 'unfair, overbroad, and completely unnecessary burden' on service members. It directs the services to set up a program to contact troops and begin doing so in two months. At least 8,200 troops were forced out of the military in 2021 for refusing to obey a lawful order when they declined to get the vaccine. The military services sent out notices in 2023 to all troops discharged over the vaccine, advising them they could return to the military, but just 113 have reenlisted. Defense officials said at the time that many troops appeared to use the vaccine mandate as a way to get out of their service obligations quickly and easily. It's unclear how many more may now be interested, since this new offer will allow eligible troops to come in at their previous rank and give them back pay, benefits and bonuses, as long as they meet all requirements for the reinstatement. Officials have not provided any cost estimates. To return, all would have to meet weight, fitness, medical and other requirements, and they could be refused if they now have a criminal record or other disqualifying factor. Officers would have to get recommissioned, which is a simple appointment process. The memo directs the services to 'broadly apply waiver authorities to permit maximum eligibility, as appropriate.' And, in a highly unusual move, only very senior civilian leaders confirmed by the Senate will have the authority to reject a waiver request. In addition, any recommendation to reject a service member's request for reinstatement must be sent to the secretary of that service, and that authority cannot be delegated to anyone else. Traditionally waivers or other similar decisions are made at much lower levels. The services will have 30 days to identify those who were forced out 'solely' for refusing the vaccine order, and within 60 days must begin a program to contact them. Once service members receive the estimate of back pay and other compensation, they will have 60 days to decide whether to return to the military. The offer is only good for one year from the date of the memo, which was Feb. 7. It wasn't posted publicly until late Thursday afternoon. Service members must go through screening through the Boards for Correction of Military/Naval Records process. The memo directs the boards to move swiftly and give priority to COVID-related applications. Troops who left the service voluntarily to avoid the vaccine may also seek reinstatement but must submit a written statement saying they left for that reason. They will not receive back pay, but will have to commit to a two-year reenlistment. According to the services, 3,748 Marines were discharged, and 25 opted to re-enlist since the 2023 offer went out; 1,903 Army soldiers were discharged, and 73 returned; 1,878 sailors were discharged and two returned; 671 airmen were discharged and 13 returned. The Pentagon made the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory in August 2021 for all service members, including the National Guard and Reserve. Then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said getting the vaccine was critical to maintaining a healthy force prepared to defend the nation. The Pentagon dropped the mandate in January 2023.
