In a move described by some former officials as a potential “counterintelligence disaster,” the CIA has reportedly sent an unclassified email to the White House listing all employees hired within the last two years. This action was allegedly taken to comply with President Trump’s executive order aimed at reducing the federal workforce, according to reports in The New York Times.
The email, which only included first names and the initial of last names of the new hires, was sent to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). These employees are still on probation, making them easy targets for dismissal as part of the administration’s broader strategy to shrink government size. The list notably included young analysts and operatives focused on counterintelligence against China, whose identities are typically kept secret due to the ongoing threat from Chinese hackers.
Critics argue that even with partial names, adversaries could cross-reference this data with publicly available information to deduce full identities, thereby risking national security. This has raised alarms about the safety of these new recruits, who might now be compromised before even beginning their missions abroad.
The decision to use unclassified email for such sensitive information has sparked debate over the balance between operational security and administrative transparency. Some within the intelligence community see this as an avoidable error, highlighting the potential for these names to leak to foreign intelligence services, thus jeopardizing ongoing and future operations against hostile nations.
The White House and the CIA have not publicly commented on the matter, but the incident has prompted reactions from members of Congress. Notably, Senator Mark Warner, a Democrat from Virginia and a key figure in the Senate Intelligence Committee, has voiced concerns over the exposure of officials engaged in sensitive work, describing the situation as a “disastrous national security development.”
This incident comes at a time when the CIA, under Director John Ratcliffe, has been offering buyouts to further reduce its workforce, aligning with the administration’s push for a leaner federal government. However, the method of communicating such sensitive data has opened up discussions on how far efficiency measures should go when national security is at stake.
