Defense officials fear impending Pentagon firings could break law and hurt military readiness
CNN
Some defense officials responsible for drafting lists of civilian Pentagon employees to be terminated as soon as this week are raising concerns with their superiors that the summary firings could break the law and potentially harm US military readiness, a senior defense official told CNN.
Some defense officials responsible for drafting lists of civilian Pentagon employees to be terminated as soon as this week are raising concerns with their superiors that the summary firings could break the law and potentially harm US military readiness, a senior defense official told CNN. Title 10 section 129a of the US code governing civilian personnel management in the armed forces says that the secretary of defense “may not reduce the civilian workforce programmed full-time equivalent levels unless the Secretary conducts an appropriate analysis” of how those firings could impact the US military’s lethality and readiness. The law says that risk mitigation takes precedence over cost. “In establishing the policies and procedures under subsection (a), the Secretary shall clearly provide that attainment of a Department of Defense workforce sufficiently sized and comprised of the appropriate mix of personnel necessary to carry out the mission of the Department and the core mission areas of the armed forces takes precedence over cost,” the law states. “The Secretary may not reduce the civilian workforce programmed full-time equivalent levels unless the Secretary conducts an appropriate analysis of the impacts of such reductions on workload, military force structure, lethality, readiness, operational effectiveness, stress on the military force, and fully burdened costs,” it continues. A senior defense official said that no such analysis has been done and that they and their colleagues were raising questions about whether the firings could run afoul of those rules. Pentagon civilian employees who fall under Title 10 are also typically in specialized roles involving national security, including cyber operations and intelligence, the official said.
Rep. Adelita Grijalva said Friday she was pepper-sprayed and pushed around during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid in Tucson, Arizona, a claim that the Department of Homeland Security swiftly disputed.
The alleged drug traffickers killed by the US military in a strike on September 2 were heading to link up with another, larger vessel that was bound for Suriname — a small South American country east of Venezuela – the admiral who oversaw the operation told lawmakers on Thursday according to two sources with direct knowledge of his remarks.
The first week of testimony in Brian Walshe’s murder trial in Dedham, Massachusetts, has come to an end. The jury heard from about two dozen witnesses called by the commonwealth in its case against Walshe as prosecutors work to prove he killed his wife, Ana Walshe, around New Year’s Day in 2023.
The US Army officially stood up a new command on Friday to oversee the Army’s activities in the Western Hemisphere in the latest signal of increasing focus on homeland defense.
A former high-level Drug Enforcement agent was indicted on charges of conspiring to traffic drugs and launder millions of dollars for a Mexican cartel.
A federal judge in Florida ordered the unsealing of grand jury transcripts and other records in the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein granting the Justice Department’s request.
The Indiana House approved new congressional maps designed to hand Republicans all nine of the state’s US House seats on Friday, setting the stage for a showdown next week in the state Senate.
Honduran presidential candidate Salvador Nasralla said last-minute interference from US President Donald Trump in the country’s closely fought election had damaged his chances of winning and left him trailing as vote counting dragged on.
Vice President JD Vance said he and second lady Usha Vance are largely amused by the online chatter dissecting their marriage, including a recent spate of headlines over photos of her without a wedding ring.
During interviews with the FBI, the suspect arrested in the pipe bomb probe told investigators that he believed the 2020 election was stolen, providing perhaps the first indication of a possible motive for the bombs placed near the DNC and RNC headquarters, people briefed on the matter said.
CNN’s 5 Things AM brings you the news you need to know every morning
The two men killed as they floated holding onto their capsized boat in a secondary strike against a suspected drug vessel in early September did not appear to have radio or other communications devices, the top military official overseeing the strike told lawmakers on Thursday, according to two sources with direct knowledge of his congressional briefings.
As Chad Curry busily ferries his teenage children through the streets of their Chicago neighborhood of West Ridge, he eyes passing vehicles with a skepticism he didn’t have just a few months ago.