Trump administration allows federal workers to take ‘deferred resignation,’ offers 8-month buyouts on one condition
The Trump administration is offering federal workers the chance to take a "deferred resignation,” allowing them to resign now but get paid through September.
Donald Trump's administration is reportedly offering federal workers the chance to take a "deferred resignation,” which would allow them to resign now but get paid through September. A senior administration official told NBC News that 5%-10% of the federal workforce is expected to resign. This could lead to around $100 billion in savings.
The Trump administration is offering eight-month buyouts, but only to workers who resign within the next week, according to a White House memo. The buyouts were offered on Tuesday, January 28, to 2.3 million federal employees.
Every full-time federal employee is eligible, but it excludes members of the military, employees of the US Postal Service, positions related to immigration enforcement and national security and other jobs excluded by agencies.
"American taxpayers pay for the salaries of federal government employees, and therefore deserve employees working on their behalf who actually show up to work in our wonderful federal buildings, also paid for by taxpayers," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. "If they don’t want to work in the office and contribute to making America great again, then they are free to choose a different line of work, and the Trump Administration will provide a very generous payout of 8 months."
What does the email say?
The Trump administration has set up a new system through which the offer was sent to the federal workforce. The system allows officials to email all federal employees at once.
The email comprised a draft resignation letter to be reviewed. If an individual wishes to resign, they will simply have to respond with the word "resign." The resignation period is set to start on Tuesday and go through February 6.
"If you choose to remain in your current position, we thank you for your renewed focus on serving the American people to the best of your abilities and look forward to working together as part of an improved federal workforce," the email that will be sent to federal workers reads. "At this time, we cannot give you full assurance regarding the certainty of your position or agency but should your position be eliminated you will be treated with dignity and will be afforded the protections in place for such positions."
Further, the email tells workers that if they choose to resign under this program, "you will retain all pay and benefits regardless of your daily workload and will be exempted from all applicable in-person work requirements until September 30, 2025 (or earlier if you choose to accelerate your resignation for any reason)."
The Trump administration's email was criticised by AFGE National President Everett Kelley, who said it "should not be viewed as voluntary." “The number of civil servants hasn’t meaningfully changed since 1970, but there are more Americans than ever who rely on government services," Kelley said. "Purging the federal government of dedicated career civil servants will have vast, unintended consequences that will cause chaos for the Americans who depend on a functioning federal government."
"Between the flurry of anti-worker executive orders and policies, it is clear that the Trump administration’s goal is to turn the federal government into a toxic environment where workers cannot stay even if they want to," he added.
The subject line of the email is ‘Fork in the Road,’ which is the same one Elon Musk used in an email to Twitter (now X) employees and asked them to opt in to keep working at the company shortly after he took over X. However, White House officials have not confirmed if Musk was involved in the current effort too.
