Inside the CIA, panic is setting in. A “cataclysmic” culling of personnel could decimate intelligence operations.
NYT: Inside U.S. spy agencies, workers fear a cataclysmic Trump cull
Firings and mass disruptions could harm intelligence collection on foreign threats and future recruiting, current and former officials say.
Late last month, an analyst at a U.S. military intelligence facility was called to a 2 p.m. meeting at his agency’s headquarters. Then came the news he and many colleagues had dreaded: They would be fired the next day.
The analyst, a 21-year Air Force veteran, joined the agency as a civilian in summer 2023. His performance assessments, reviewed by The Washington Post, were positive. But he was a few months shy of completing his two-year probationary period. The analyst packed his personal belongings into a box, but when he returned to work the following day, he learned his dismissal was in limbo — at least temporarily.