Congress Required This DoD Office by Law. It Went From 40 People to 9.
Federal employees have watched a familiar pattern repeat across agencies this year, and a Pentagon office offers one of the clearest examples yet: an office Congress required by statute went from roughly 40 people to 9, and the Department is now weighing whether to bring about half of them back.
Stay with this one even if you have never worked a day at Defense. The mechanics matter for any federal employee whose work exists because a law says it has to.
An Office Written Into the U.S. Code
The office is the Civilian Protection Center of Excellence. It was not dreamed up at a strategy offsite. It sits in Title 10, section 184 of the United States Code, enacted as part of the fiscal year 2023 defense authorization. The statute says the Secretary of Defense shall operate it. Shall — not may, and not when convenient.
What Happened to the People
At the start of last year the office had about 40 people — civilians, service members, and contractors. By the end of the year it had 9. At Central Command, the team doing that work went from ten people down to a single full-time employee.
Most of them were not laid off. They were reassigned — moved off the mission and onto something else.
In May of last year, Pentagon leadership sent Congress a legislative proposal asking to repeal the law requiring the office. Congress did not repeal it. The cut happened anyway.
What the Inspector General Found
On May 13 of this year, the Department of Defense Inspector General finished its evaluation. Not one of the program’s eleven objectives was fully implemented. One hundred thirty-three implementing actions remained unfinished. The report found that components “lost or reassigned many of the personnel.”
Why This Matters for Your Position
Most directed reassignments are lawful. Agencies have considerable room to move people around, and there is no point pretending otherwise.
But when the work you do exists because a statute says it must exist, you are standing on different ground — with the Inspector General, with Congress, and sometimes with the Merit Systems Protection Board.
One Thing to Do This Week
Find the authority for your own position. The statute, the regulation, the charter — whatever created the function you perform. Write it down, and keep a copy somewhere that is not your work laptop.
When a reorganization lands, “this position implements 10 U.S.C. 184” is a very different sentence than “I have been here nine years.”
If You Were RIF-Separated and the Function Is Coming Back
If you were separated from the competitive service in a reduction in force and you are watching your agency quietly rebuild the same function it cut, look up the Reemployment Priority List at 5 C.F.R. Part 330, subpart B. It gives priority consideration for most competitive-service vacancies — but only if you are registered.
This is the same pattern showing up elsewhere across government: cut the people who perform a statutory function, and the function stops.
If a reassignment, a RIF notice, or a reorganization has landed on you and the timing feels wrong, you can contact Southworth PC at attorneysforfederalemployees.com.
Legal Disclaimer: This content is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Federal employment situations are fact-specific and time-sensitive. Please consult a qualified federal employment attorney about your specific situation.