
Mass federal worker firings could pose significant security risk for U.S., experts warn
CBSN
Washington — As President Trump and Elon Musk work to overhaul the federal government, they're forcing out thousands of workers with insider knowledge and connections who now need a job.
For Russia, China and other adversaries, the upheaval in Washington as the White House's Department of Government Efficiency guts government agencies presents an unprecedented opportunity to recruit informants, national security and intelligence experts say.
Every former federal worker with knowledge of or access to sensitive information or systems could be a target. When thousands of them leave their jobs at the same time, that creates a lot of targets, as well as a counterespionage challenge for the United States.

An encrypted messaging app called Signal is drawing attention and questions after top Trump officials — including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Vice President JD Vance — allegedly used the service to discuss a highly sensitive military operation while inadvertently including The Atlantic's editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, in the chat.

President Trump's Ukraine and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff was in Moscow, where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, when he was included in a group chat with more than a dozen other top administration officials — and inadvertently, one journalist — on the messaging app Signal, a CBS News analysis of open-source flight information and Russian media reporting has revealed.

President Trump's nominee to run the Social Security Administration, Frank Bisignano, will face a Senate hearing on Tuesday morning about his qualifications to run the massive retirement system, as well as his plans for the agency at a time when it has been targeted for significant job cuts by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency.