# The REDUCE Act: What It Means for Defense Department Jobs

The REDUCE Act would require the Department of Defense to cut its civilian workforce significantly over the next several years. Starting in 2026, the bill caps the number of civilian employees at the Pentagon and related defense agencies at 85 percent of what it was in September 2021. To put that in concrete terms, if the Defense Department had 100,000 civilian workers in 2021, they'd be limited to 85,000 by 2026. This reduction would stay in place through 2030, meaning the department would need to eliminate roughly 15 percent of its civilian staff—potentially tens of thousands of jobs.

The bill gives the Defense Secretary two paths to achieve these cuts. First, they can offer voluntary incentives to encourage people to leave, including early retirement bonuses and separation payments. If enough people don't voluntarily leave, the second path kicks in: involuntary layoffs through what's called a "reduction in force." When doing involuntary layoffs, the bill requires that performance ratings be weighted more heavily than other factors, meaning better-performing employees would have more protection than lower performers. There's also a cap on how many high-level executive positions can remain—no more than 1,000 senior executive service positions would be allowed.

The bill includes a flexibility mechanism: if the military's active-duty troop levels increase, the civilian workforce limits could be adjusted upward to match. Conversely, if troop levels decrease, the department would need to cut even more civilian jobs. The Defense Secretary would need to report annually to Congress on how these cuts are progressing and what impact they're having on military operations and readiness.

This bill would primarily affect Defense Department civilian employees—people who work in administrative roles, engineering, logistics, human resources, and countless other support functions that keep the military operating. It would not directly affect active-duty military personnel or contractors, only permanent government employees on the Pentagon's payroll.

REDUCE Act

Calvert, Ken

Rebalance for an Effective Defense Uniformed and Civilian Employees Act or the REDUCE Act This bill limits full-time positions in the Department of Defense (DOD), in each of FY2026-FY2030, to not more than 85% of the number of such positions at the end of FY2021. Not more than 1,000 of the positions may be career appointees within the Senior Executive Service. DOD may offer voluntary separation incentive payments and voluntary early retirement payments to achieve the reductions but must use involuntary measures, beginning at the start of FY2021, to achieve required reductions in personnel levels if voluntary measures are inadequate.