Washington, Feb. 21 -- The Pentagon will temporarily freeze hiring new employees within the framework of optimization of its functioning, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said.
"We are going to put out a hiring freeze and take more time to identify on a performance based standard, who we are going to hire and reward hard working employees," Hegseth said in a message, published on Pentagon's X on Thursday.
He said that the Pentagon will fire the workers who are "under performers."
At the same time the Defense One news portal reported, citing its sources, that dismissals of civil personnel may start on Friday already.
On Wednesday, The Washington Post newspaper reported that the Trump administration has ordered the Pentagon to develo...