CIA sends 'buyout' offers to entire workforce

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) on Tuesday became the first major national security agency to offer so-called buyouts to its entire workforce, a CIA spokesperson and two other sources familiar with the offer said, part of US President Donald Trump's broad effort to shrink the federal government and shape it to his agenda, reports CNN.

The offer - which tells federal employees that they can quit their jobs and receive roughly eight months of pay and benefits - had up until Tuesday not been made available to most national security roles in an apparent cognizance of their critical function to the security of the nation.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe personally decided he also wanted the CIA to be involved, one of the sources said.

The spokesperson said that the move is part of Ratcliffe's efforts to "ensure the CIA workforce is responsive to the Administration's national security priorities," adding that is "part of a holistic strategy to infuse the Agency with renewed energy."

Still, even as the offer was sent to the entire workforce at the agency, it was not immediately clear whether all would be allowed to take it. Some specific occupations and areas of expertise appear likely to be restricted, one of the sources familiar with the offer said, suggesting that the effort is far less sweeping than in civil service agencies that are not considered to be doing national security work.

There's also a caveat for Ratcliffe to retain flexibility to work through the timing of officer departures in critical areas, according to another source familiar with the matter.  The Office of Personnel Management had issued internal guidance last week that some officers at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence may be able to participate in the program but that not all positions at the ODNI will necessarily be eligible, according to two other sources familiar with the communications.

The decision to include the CIA in the program appears to be a recent one: As of last week, the CIA workforce was still being advised that officials were trying to determine whether they would be eligible for the program, one of those sources said.