The CIA has provided another arm of the Trump administration with an unclassified list of its employees – sparking concerns their identities could be compromised and fears China or adversaries could gain insights into U.S. intelligence gathering.
The move came as Trump expanded the agencies being brought under a stunning offer to 2 million federal employees to get paid while deferring their retirement until the end of September.
It now includes the CIA as well as a host of other intelligence agencies that participate in intelligence gathering using satellite, monitoring and human methods.
These include the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the National Security Agency, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the National Reconnaissance Office.
All are part of the nation’s sprawling multi-billion intelligence gathering operations.
The list includes the names of all agents hired during the last two years, as DOGE head Elon Musk seeks to slash personnel and wring savings from government.
In that sense, the CIA workers are like other ‘provisional’ employees who have not yet earned certain worker protections and are considered vulnerable to a mass culling.
The list included the first name and first initial of the last name of newer hires, the New York Times reported.
Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee, blasted the decision to share identifying information.
The CIA has handed over an unclassified list of employees hired within the last two years, as the Trump administration’s employee purge continues
‘Those details are secret for a reason – because protecting the identities of CIA employees is critical to their safety and mission, a mission that helps keep Americans safe every day,’ he said.
‘From what I have learned, the CIA should not have transmitted these names in this fashion, nor should the White House have insisted on such a clearly irresponsible approach, one that could genuinely put people in danger,’ he fumed, Fox News reported.
‘We are complying with the Executive Orders, and are providing requested information through the appropriate channels,’ a CIA spokesperson told DailyMail.com.
The complaint comes amid fears of a mass firing at the CIA as part of Trump and Musk’s government-wide purge.
Trump has long railed against the CIA as part of a ‘deep state,’ and he has clashed with the agency ever since findings that Russian hacking operations meant to influence the 2016 elections.
He famously tore into political enemies during a speech in front of the CIA’s wall of honor during his first full day as president in 2017, where he called the media ‘among the most dishonest human beings on earth.’
Monday is the deadline that the Office of Personnel Management has set for federal employees to take the deal – after enticing them to take it amid lower than expected initials numbers by urging them to take a dream vacation.
Thursday is the day the Office of Personnel management set for 2 million federal workers to take a ‘fork in the road’ offer as part of Elon Musk’s DOGE effort to clash the workforce
A former agency official called the disclosure in the CIA document a ‘counterintelligence disaster,’ according to the Times.
The moves have sparked fears that Trump and Musk plan to clear out experienced analysts and replace them with Trump loyalists.
The agency isn’t saying how many people would be affected by the offer, as Trump’s new CIA Director John Ratcliffe seeks to seize control of the agency and ensure its workers are ‘responsive to the Administration’s national security priorities.’
‘These moves are part of a holistic strategy to infuse the Agency with renewed energy, provide opportunities for rising leaders to emerge, and better position the CIA to deliver on its mission,’ the agency said.
‘There are few government agencies more essential to our national security than the CIA,’ said Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence committee.
‘A lot of federal employees, including at the CIA, are my constituents, and I’ve been warning them that these `buyouts´ are empty promises, since Congress hasn’t approved any money to do it. I´d hate to see people resign and then get stiffed like the contractors on President Trump’s construction projects,’ he said.
‘Every scam artist is the same,’ he told MSNBC. ‘Rush! Take this offer right now! It expires at midnight!’ How many times do we see that?’
He said there was ‘no money’ and ‘not legal authority.’
‘Do the DOGE bros who are 25 year old coders think if we lose our best spies that some coder’s going to come and take that job tomorrow?’
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