The White House on Tuesday began offering buyouts worth seven months of salary to all federal employees who opt to leave their jobs by Feb. 6 — part of President Donald Trump's unprecedented overhaul of the U.S. government.
A memo from the Office of Personnel Management, the government's human resources agency, lists four directives that it says Trump is mandating for the federal workforce, including that most workers return to their offices full-time.
It includes a “deferred resignation letter” for federal employees wishing to participate.
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“If you choose not to continue in your current role in the federal workforce, we thank you for your service to your country and you will be provided with a dignified, fair departure from the federal government utilizing a deferred resignation program,” the email reads. “This program begins effective January 28 and is available to all federal employees until February 6.”
It adds, “If you 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.”
The Trump administration has estimated the buyout plan could save the government $100 billion.
The American Federation of Government Employees, the largest union of federal employees in the country, released a statement after the memo was circulated:
"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," it read. "This offer should not be viewed as voluntary. 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."
This is a developing story and will be updated.
