US President Donald Trump plans to make significant cuts to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and other intelligence agencies in the country, The Washington Post reported.
Citing unnamed sources familiar with these plans, the media outlet specified that the Langley office is planned to be cut by approximately 1,200 people. In total, according to the publication, the CIA has about 22 thousand employees.
According to the information presented in the publication, the US administration has already informed the US Congress about its plans to reduce the number of intelligence agency employees. The process is expected to take several years and no immediate cuts are planned, the newspaper noted.
The publication added that it was not clear which specific CIA units could be affected by the staff cuts. The article emphasized that "several thousand" are also expected to be laid off from the National Security Agency (NSA), the Military Intelligence Agency, the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency and the National Intelligence Service. The National Security Agency (NIS) is responsible for electronic intelligence.
The CIA indirectly confirmed the veracity of the information presented by the newspaper. A CIA spokesman told the media that the agency's current director, John Ratcliffe, "is acting quickly" to ensure that personnel policies reflect "the administration's national security priorities".
“These steps are part of a comprehensive strategy to revitalize the agency, provide opportunities for new leaders and better position the CIA to carry out its missions“, the spokesman said.
Meanwhile, Democrat Mark Warner of the US Senate Intelligence Committee criticized the plans. We are talking about “reckless cuts“ of personnel that would weaken the security of the country, said the lawmaker, who is practically the deputy chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.
The newspaper recalled that the US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard also shared about the reduction of her staff two days ago. Gabbard has spoken publicly several times about the need to end the politicization of intelligence work. The new director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Kesh Patel, has set himself a similar task. It was recently revealed that the FBI is conducting polygraph tests on its employees to combat politically motivated leaks.