AFAICT what’s going on here is just that AISI and CHIPS are getting hit especially hard by the decision to fire probationary staff across USG, since they’re new and therefore have lots of probationary staff—it’s not an indication (yet) that either office is being targeted to be killed
To be frank though, that basically guts any chance of institutional capability, so it’s probably going to be at best a hollow organization.
You do not randomly fire large swathes of people and expect most institutional knowledge to survive, because there’s no reason for anyone to work there rather than be in the private sector.
True, but that’s a different problem than them specifically targeting the AISI (which, based on Vance’s comments, wouldn’t be too surprising). Accidentally targeting the AISI means it’s an easier decision to revert than if the government actively wanted to shut down AISI-like efforts.
Someone I trust on this says:
To be frank though, that basically guts any chance of institutional capability, so it’s probably going to be at best a hollow organization.
You do not randomly fire large swathes of people and expect most institutional knowledge to survive, because there’s no reason for anyone to work there rather than be in the private sector.
True, but that’s a different problem than them specifically targeting the AISI (which, based on Vance’s comments, wouldn’t be too surprising). Accidentally targeting the AISI means it’s an easier decision to revert than if the government actively wanted to shut down AISI-like efforts.