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The Trump administration said on Tuesday it is offering financial incentives to 2 million civilian full-time federal workers to quit as part of plans to drastically shrink the size of the U.S. government.
The “deferred resignation program” would allow federal employees to remain on the payroll through Sept. 30 but without having to work in person and possibly having their duties reduced or eliminated in the meantime, according to an email sent to federal employees and seen by Reuters.
The email gives federal employees until Feb. 6 to decide whether to take part. It instructed interested employees to reply to the email from a government account and type the word “resign.” The offer covers civilian employees except those in immigration and national security-related positions and people working for the U.S. Postal Service.
The unprecedented move comes as Republican President Donald Trump has used his early days in office to shrink, purge and remake the U.S. federal government to conform to his political priorities.
There are about 2.3 million U.S. civilian employees, excluding the Postal Service. Security related agencies account for the bulk of the federal workforce, but hundreds of thousands of people work across the country in jobs overseeing veterans’ healthcare, inspecting agriculture and paying the government’s bills, among other jobs.
The share of federal employees as a percentage of the full non-farm workforce, now under 2%, has been on the decline for decades.
The email said the administration expects to see a “more streamlined and flexible workforce.”   Â
While the military and some agencies are likely to increase the size of their staff, the majority of agencies are likely to be downsized through restructurings and layoffs, the email said, and warned that federal employees could not be guaranteed of their jobs.
“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,” the email said. “The reform of the federal workforce will be significant.”
Democratic Senator Tim Kaine on Tuesday called the proposal a “fake offer”, saying Trump did not have authority to offer it and employees may not get the promised payouts.
It was unclear how many workers would accept the offer and what impact it would have on government costs or service levels. NBC News cited a senior administration official who estimated that 5%-10% of the federal workforce could quit, leading to $100 billion in savings, a figure Reuters could not verify.
Elon Musk, the billionaire tapped by Trump to oversee a government cost-cutting effort, initially aimed to cut $2 trillion in spending from the $6.8 trillion federal budget. He has since said it is more likely a smaller amount of spending will be cut.
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‘FORK IN THE ROAD’
Many federal workers are represented by unions and have significant employment protections. The memo says the federal government plans to use furloughs and reclassify a substantial number of employees to “at will status,” which allows an employer to cut staff without prior notice or justification. Federal buyouts are generally capped at $25,000.
The unsigned memo, from a new email address –Â – that was created in recent days by the Trump administration, was titled: “Fork in the road.” Musk sent an email in 2022 to Twitter employees that mirrored the same subject line.
The White House did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
The National Treasury Employees Union, which represents about 150,000 federal workers, warned its members that “the email is designed to entice or scare you into resigning” and said “we strongly urge you not to resign in response.”
In a separate email to agencies, the White House Office of Personnel Management offered more details on the program saying federal employees taking part “should promptly have their duties re-assigned or eliminated and be placed on paid administrative leave until the end of the deferred resignation period.”
Federal employees could take another job and will continue to accrue retirement benefits through Sept. 30. Agencies can exempt specific positions from the offers.
Trump has issued directives in his first days in office to restructure the government and compel federal workers to return to offices.
Federal agency heads were asked to identify employees on probationary periods, or who have served less than two years. Such employees are easier to fire. Trump also issued a freeze on federal hiring, except for military, immigration enforcement, national security and public safety jobs.
Trump also signed an executive order that would make it easier to fire thousands of federal workers by reclassifying their job status.
“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,” American Federation of Government Employees President Everett Kelley said in a statement, urging federal workers not to make a hasty decision.
(Reporting by David Shepardson, Jarrett Renshaw and Kanishka Singh in Washington; Writing by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Lisa Shumaker, Lincoln Feast and Caitlin Webber)
