The media learned about Hegseth's signing of a document on reducing the staff of the US Department of Defense

The head of the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, signed a memorandum aimed at reducing the civilian workforce of the US Department of Defense, amid the desire of the administration of US President Donald Trump to reduce costs. This was reported on March 29 by Bloomberg with reference to the agency.

"The end result will be a reduction in the number of full—time civilian positions," the US Department of Defense said in a statement.

It is noted that in February 2025, the US Department of State announced plans to lay off from 5% to 8% of its staff, and Hegseth confirmed his determination to join Trump's campaign to reduce the federal workforce. Currently, about 950,000 civilians work at the Pentagon, which means that up to 76,000 people may be affected by the cuts.

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On March 25, NBC reported an increase in the number of civil servants looking for work due to cuts by the Department of government Efficiency. Indeed website economist Corey Stahle said that this has not happened since the presidential inauguration and appointments to the administration. In February, the number of job search applications issued by U.S. government employees soared by 60 percentage points, he said.