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Federal Workers Urged To Reject Trump Buyout
President Trump has offered to buy out federal workers who voluntarily resign from their posts, but Democrat lawmakers argue that the administration will renege on the incentives that have been promised.
Newsweek has reached out to the White House via email for comment.
Why It Matters
The U.S. government employs around 3 million people, excluding military personnel, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. However, slimming down the federal workforce has been touted as one of Trump’s key priorities, one of the means by which the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) plans on eliminating wasteful expenditure in the government.
What To Know
Trump has ordered the DOGE, in cooperation with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), to submit a plan by April 20 to “reduce the size of the federal government’s workforce through efficiency improvements and attrition.”
This is alongside a “freeze on the hiring of federal civilian employees” announced on January 20, and a demand that all departments and agencies within the executive branch transition to exclusively in-person working arrangements.
On Tuesday, federal employees received an email from the OPM, informing them that they would be granted a “dignified, fair departure” from their roles if they chose to resign amid a wave of changes taking place in the government’s workplace culture.
The email stated that those who vacate their position will receive “all pay and benefits regardless of your daily workload and will be exempted from all applicable in-person work requirements until September 30, 2025.” Employees willing to take the OPM’s eight-month buyout offer were simply asked to reply to the email with the word “resign.”
Andrew Harnik/J. Scott Applewhite/Getty Images/AP Photo
“The president has no authority to make that offer,” Virginia Democratic Senator Tim Kaine said on the Senate floor Tuesday. “There’s no budget line item to pay people who are not showing up for work.”
“Don’t be fooled by a fake offer,” Kaine added. “That because he’s terrorized you in the last week it would be easy to just resign now and get a check for seven months. Because I can tell you, that promise is worth nothing.”
Kaine’s comments, urging federal employees against accepting the offer, have been echoed by other Democratic lawmakers over the past day.
Others have pointed out that the email’s title and content bears a close resemblance to the one sent by Elon Musk to employees of Twitter, now X, in late 2022, following his purchase of the company.
What People Are Saying
Texas Representative Jasmine Crockett, a Democrat, via X on Tuesday: “Trump is offering a fake ‘buyout’ to federal workers with no guarantee he won’t screw them the minute they accept—and then replace them with unqualified, inexperienced loyalists the second they leave.”
Democratic Representative Gerry Connolly from Virginia via X on Tuesday: “Donald Trump is trying every trick he and his Project 2025 cronies can think of to fill the civil service with political hacks. This is a farce. Don’t be fooled by this offer. He will burn you like he’s burned everyone who has ever worked for him.”
Connolly separately issued a statement about the email, shared by the Democrats of the House Oversight Committee, which read: “Donald Trump is trying every trick he and his Project 2025 cronies can think of to circumvent established civil service protections so they can purge the civil service of experts and replace them with political loyalists.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, in a statement shared with NBC, said: “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 eight months.”
What Happens Next?
According to the email sent by the OPM, federal employees have until next Thursday to tender their resignations and be eligible for the benefits promised.
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