The Defense Department has temporarily paused a plan to carry out mass firings of civilian probationary employees until Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and the Pentagon’s Office of General Counsel can carry out a more thorough review of the impacts such firings could have on US military readiness,

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth previously said he would welcome the Department of Government Efficiency and Elon Musk to the Pentagon.

Across the department, tens of thousands of civilian employees are considered probationary and eligible to be fired, the senior defense official said. CNN has reached out to the Office of the

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has told the Pentagon to find $50 billion in programs to cut this year, to redirect funds to President Trump's priorities.

Data analytics company Palantir is a major US defense contractor. Its shares were up 65% this year before Wednesday.

Palantir Technologies Inc. shares fell 10% on Wednesday, and continued to slide in after-hours trading, following a report that US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has asked officials for plans on how to slash military spending.