Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has drastically reduced Pentagon offices responsible for limiting risk to civilians during military operations. The Civilian Protection Center of Excellence, which previously employed 200 personnel, saw its workforce slashed by 90%. Additionally, the Central Command team that handles civilian casualties in the Middle East was reduced from 10 employees to just one.
Within weeks of taking office in January 2025, Hegseth ordered voluntary and involuntary cuts across the Defense Department. In total, nearly 110,000 of the department's roughly 795,000 civilians departed last year, about 80% more than Hegseth's initial goal. Some 30,000 jobs deemed essential to national security were subsequently re-filled.
The civilian protection mission was dissolved as Hegseth made "lethality" a top priority. In a recent press conference, he stated: "We untie the hands of our warfighters to intimidate, demoralize, hunt and kill the enemies of our country. No more politically correct and overbearing rules of engagement, just common sense, maximum lethality and authority for warfighters."
The oversight offices cannot be completely closed as they are approved by Congress. However, sources indicate that while Hegseth cannot close the offices outright, the defense secretary has made them "nearly inoperable." Current Defense Department employees report gutted offices, lower productivity, and pervasive uncertainty following the cuts.
