Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.
Read more
The Central Intelligence Agency will fire an unreleased number of junior officers as President Donald Trump’s efforts to downsize and reshape the federal government reverberate through America’s intelligence community.
The agency will review personnel hired within the past two years, an agency spokesperson said Thursday, and those officers with behavioral issues or who are deemed a poor fit for intelligence work will be laid off. The spokesperson said not everyone proves to be able to handle the pressures of the job.
The cuts are part of sweeping staffing reductions at agencies across the federal government made by Trump and billionaire Elon Musk. Some agencies, like the U.S. Agency for International Development, have been largely dismantled. While intelligence agencies have been spared the deepest cuts, they haven’t been immune.
In February the CIA offered buyouts to some employees. The typically secretive agency has not said how many employees accepted the offer.
Trump’s recently confirmed CIA Director John Ratcliffe has promised to overhaul the agency and return its focus to human-gathered intelligence.
The CIA and other Western spy agencies have played a key role in supplying information to Ukraine about Russian war plans and capabilities. Ratcliffe said this week that intelligence sharing with Ukraine has been suspended, but characterized the interruption as potentially temporary.
