Cuts begin at Defense Department as 31,000 offered to resign
Some 4,000 Defense Department personnel have begun receiving termination notices from their employers, according to a U.S. official.
Last month, a department statement said that 5,400 employees might be affected in a first wave of job dismissals that could reach 5% to 8% of the civilian workforce of 878,000 employees. The U.S. official did not have an explanation for the discrepancy in the numbers.
Individual DOD agencies are reaching out to their own employees affected by the terminations, one reason why the notices are all not going out at once.

According to the official, 31,000 civilian employees submitted a resignation request per the Office of Personnel Management email.
A review of those employees is underway, and there are some for whom their request will be denied because they have been exempted. So far, 11,000 of those who submitted resignations have had their requests accepted. The 31,000 affected employees is equal to 3.5% of the total DOD civilian workforce.
-ABC News' Luis Martinez





