Skip to content
Project 2025
Search

Latest Stories

Follow Us:
Top Stories
USA Presidential voters on electoral college map

The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact Federalism at Its Best

​U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)

Ted Cruz’s “Darkest Before Dawn” Melodrama Misses the Message of the Midterms

Voters in Alaska

What To Know About Alaska’s Election System

Blue wave with the US Capitol building

The 2026 Blue Wave: Voters Rejected Trump, Not Endorsed Democrats

President Donald Trump

Donald Trump’s Midterm Delusion: Why a Red Wave Turned Blue

Pentagon Reportedly Pauses Plan for Mass Civilian Layoffs

News

Pentagon Reportedly Pauses Plan for Mass Civilian Layoffs
File:An aerial view of the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., May 15 ...
commons.wikimedia.org
Hugo Balta
By Hugo BaltaFeb 22, 2025
Hugo Balta

Hugo Balta is a journalist, educator, and communicator. Hugo is the executive editor of the Fulcrum and a board member of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund, the parent organization of The Fulcrum. He is the publisher of the Latino News Network, a trainer with the Solutions Journalism Network, and an adjunct professor teaching journalism courses.

See More Writings by author

According to CNN, on Friday, the Defense Department temporarily halted its plan to lay off thousands of probationary employees.

The decision to pause follows a CNN report on Wednesday indicating that the mass layoffs—potentially impacting over 50,000 civilian employees across the Pentagon—might violate Title 10, Section 129a of the US code. After the report, Pentagon lawyers began a closer review of the terminations' legality, officials said.

The law states that the secretary of defense "may not reduce the civilian workforce programmed full-time equivalent levels" without properly analyzing how the layoffs could affect the U.S. military’s lethality and readiness. It also emphasizes that mitigating risks to military readiness must take priority over cost considerations.

The ordered cuts represent a significant shift in defense spending to support President Donald Trump’s priorities, including a U.S. missile defense system similar to Iron Dome and enhanced border security.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly stated that President Trump’s directive to the department—to “achieve Peace through Strength”—is clear, emphasizing the urgent need to revive the warrior ethos, rebuild the military, and reestablish deterrence.

Democrats argue that the initiative is a sham, claiming it will not only fail to save taxpayers money but also weaken America’s defense capabilities amid growing global threats.

“These types of hasty, indiscriminate budget cuts would betray our military forces and their families and make America less safe,” Senate Armed Services Committee ranking member Jack Reed (D-R.I.) said in a statement, reported The Hill.

However, Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) said the Pentagon effort is simply the new administration reviewing the entire budget.

The Pentagon has proposed cutting 8% of its budget in the next five years, amounting to $50 billion yearly.

Hugo Balta is the executive editor of the Fulcrum and a board member of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund, the parent organization of The Fulcrum. He is the publisher of the Latino News Network


Latest news

You Can’t Buy Authenticity
Democracy

You Can’t Buy Authenticity

U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA)
Elections

The Customer Is Always Right: Why Speaker Johnson’s Post-Midterm Arrogance Misses the Mark

Judge's Gavel Hammer as a Symbol of Law and Order with Processor CPU AI Chip.
Media & Technology

Let the Bots Have the Internet!

Read More

US America and China flags on chess king on a chessboard.

USA and China trade relations, cooperation strategy. US America and China flags on chess king on a chessboard.

Getty Images

America’s Gridlock Is Beijing’s Best Argument

Americans tend to treat democracy’s superiority as settled, and the long-run evidence backs them up. A major study by MIT economist Daron Acemoglu and colleagues found that countries that democratize end up about 20 percent richer per person within a generation. But most of the world does not grade governments on long-run studies. For billions of people outside the wealthy West, the test is simpler: does the power stay on, are food prices steady, is there work, and do the roads get built? When the stomach is empty, a ballot can feel like a luxury.

China understands this and sells its model on exactly those terms. Its GDP per capita has climbed from about $300 in 1980 to nearly $15,000 today, by IMF figures, and the World Bank credits it with lifting some 800 million people out of extreme poverty. India, the world’s largest democracy, started from a similar place and sits near $2,800. Beijing’s centralized system, paired with Deng Xiaoping’s market reforms, built power plants, factories and rail lines at a pace India’s more deliberative politics has not matched. Anyone who values liberty will find little to admire in that model. It does explain why the model sells.

Keep ReadingShow less
American soldier in headquarter control center

American soldier in headquarter control center

Getty Images

Why America Must Rethink Its Counterterrorism Strategy in Nigeria

When American forces conducted airstrikes against suspected Islamic State militants in northwest Nigeria on Christmas Day 2025, the operation signaled a renewal of security cooperation between Washington and Abuja. Yet for Nigerians living in communities plagued by terrorism, kidnapping, and armed attacks, a critical question remained: Will these strikes make their daily lives any safer?

That question demands serious consideration in Washington. The United States has spent decades helping Nigeria combat terrorism through military equipment, intelligence sharing, and tactical training. Yet, armed violence continues to disrupt daily life across northern Nigeria, raising doubts about how the effectiveness of American counterterrorism assistance should be measured.

Keep ReadingShow less
Pete Hegseth

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on October 28, 2026.

(Photo by Ezra Acayan/Getty Images)

Pete Hegseth and the High Price of Compromised Governance

Just days after a historic midterm election in which everyday Americans sent a clear, undeniable demand for political accountability and transparency, the halls of Congress have devolved into a new theater of crisis. Republican Representative Thomas Massie’s introduction of eight articles of impeachment against Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has thrown the Department—and the nation’s fragile democratic norms—into uncharted territory.

Massie, a longtime Trump critic who plans to retire from Congress at the end of the year, accuses Hegseth of bypassing Congress and violating constitutional limits on war powers.

Keep ReadingShow less
Close up of pharmacist hand taking meds from drawer

New federal law already targets PBM pricing and rebate practices. An opinion on why state pharmacy ownership bans go too far, and the freight-rail lesson.

Cris Cantón/Getty Images

State Healthcare Reforms Have Gone Off the Rails

Government generally has two ways to address problems in a marketplace. It can establish clear rules, target harmful conduct and let competition produce better outcomes. Or it can design the market itself by controlling business decisions and dictating how companies must operate. That is the decision facing lawmakers in healthcare today.

America's freight-rail experience shows what is at stake. For decades, the Interstate Commerce Commission controlled railroad rates, restricted routes and made it hard for carriers to shed unprofitable lines. Intended to stabilize an essential industry, the rules instead contributed to bankruptcies and lagging investment.

Keep ReadingShow less
© Copyright 2026