Russia and China, both considered U.S. adversaries, have instructed their intelligence services to recruit American federal employees working in national security, focusing on those who have recently been laid off or fear losing their jobs, according to four sources familiar with U.S. intelligence reports.
These reports indicate that both countries are attempting to exploit the mass layoffs implemented by the Trump administration, a plan announced this week by the Office of Personnel Management. Specifically, they are targeting former employees with security clearances and probationary workers who could soon be dismissed, as they may hold valuable information about critical U.S. infrastructure and vital government operations, according to two of the sources.
Additionally, at least two countries have launched recruitment websites and have intensified their efforts on platforms such as LinkedIn to attract federal employees, two sources said. “They believe these workers are at their most vulnerable right now,” another source commented. “Unemployed, bitter about being let go—easy targets.”
A third source, quoted by CNN, warned that “these marginalized federal employees, with a wealth of institutional knowledge, represent extremely attractive opportunities for the intelligence services of our competitors.”
CNN has reached out to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence as well as the Chinese and Russian embassies in Washington for comment.
The intelligence reports confirm what had previously been only a hypothetical concern among U.S. officials: that mass layoffs could provide foreign intelligence agencies with a prime recruitment opportunity, particularly among former employees facing financial hardship or harboring resentment. In recent years, the Justice Department has prosecuted several former military and intelligence officials for providing classified U.S. intelligence to China.
Within the CIA, officials have been privately discussing this risk and potential countermeasures, according to intelligence sources who spoke with CNN. However, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard framed the situation as a threat from “disloyal” government employees rather than an objective warning about the risks of Trump’s aggressive cost-cutting strategy.
“I wonder why they think this tactic will help them keep their jobs,” Gabbard told Fox News. “They’re exposing themselves by using CNN as their propaganda arm. They’ve repeatedly shown their hand—that their loyalty is not to the United States, not to the American people or the Constitution, but to themselves.” She added that these individuals “must be rooted out” so that “patriots committed to our core mission can truly focus on their work.”
However, officials from national security agencies have expressed frustration, arguing that these warnings are serious and not merely political disputes. “Employees who feel mistreated by their employer have historically been far more likely to disclose sensitive information,” explained Holden Triplett, former director of counterintelligence at the National Security Council during the Trump administration and former FBI attaché in Moscow and Beijing. “We may be unintentionally creating the perfect recruitment environment,” he warned.
Meanwhile, the CIA and the Department of Defense are weighing significant personnel cuts. A Pentagon memo last week indicated that more than 5,000 probationary employees—most of whom have been in their jobs for a year or less—could soon be dismissed. Additionally, the CIA has already fired more than 20 officials working on diversity issues, many of whom are now challenging their termination in court.
This mass layoff process may have already compromised sensitive U.S. intelligence. In an effort to comply with the administration’s directive to reduce federal staff, the CIA recently sent an unusually detailed email to the White House via an unclassified server. The email contained a list of all employees who had been with the agency for two years or less—including CIA officers preparing for covert operations. Some of those officials, who had access to classified information about agency operations and tradecraft, may have already been dismissed as part of the cuts, potentially putting U.S. secrets within reach of foreign spies and hackers.
