Approximately one-third of the employees the Department of Defense (DOD) will dismiss are voluntarily leaving through the deferred resignation program, a senior U.S. defense official said on Tuesday. "More than 20,000, nearing 21,000 of the applications ...

Roughly 50,000 to 60,000 civilian jobs will be cut in the Defense Department, but fewer than 21,000 workers who took a voluntary resignation plan are leaving in the coming months, a senior defense official told reporters Tuesday.