A senior Pentagon official said that money saved through the cuts could be “realigned” to other defense priorities that President Donald Trump has.

The cuts targeting mostly new and recently promoted workers are part of the administration's push to shrink the federal work force.

Bianca Facchinei chats with The Hill’s White House columnist Niall Stanage about the IRS firing 6,700 employees Thursday. They also touch on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directing senior Pentagon officials and military leaders to forge plans that would result in an 8 percent cut to the defense budget for each year over the next five years.

The Defense Department says it’s cutting 5,400 probationary workers starting next week and will put a hiring freeze in place.

The Pentagon said on Friday it would start firing about 5,400 civilian employees who were on probation, the first moves by President Donald Trump's administration at the department to make good on its promise to reduce the federal workforce.