The Trump administration has offered a buyout to nearly two million federal employees, giving them the option to resign while continuing to receive pay and benefits through September.
Billionaire Elon Musk, who heads the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, praised the buyout as “fair and generous.” Musk had previously used a similar strategy at Twitter (now X) after acquiring the company in 2022.
Announced in an email sent to the federal workforce on Tuesday evening, the “deferred resignation” programme requires employees to decide by 6 February if they wish to accept the offer by simply replying with the word “Resign.” Those who opt in will not be expected to work during the remaining months.
The initiative, first reported by Axios, is part of a broader effort by President Donald Trump’s administration to bring federal employees back to in-person work, five years after the pandemic triggered widespread remote working policies.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the programme, saying,
“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.”
The administration expects 5-10% of employees to take the offer, which could lead to an estimated $100 billion in savings, according to a senior official. The buyout applies to all full-time federal workers, excluding military personnel, U.S. Postal Service employees, and those in immigration enforcement or national security roles.
The email, sent from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), also hinted at further restructuring, stating that while employees who choose to stay would be “treated with dignity,” there were no guarantees regarding the security of their roles.
The programme has sparked backlash from unions and federal employee groups. The American Federation of Government Employees warned that the buyouts could lead to “chaos” and accused the administration of creating a toxic work environment to push career civil servants out.
Despite criticism, the Trump administration is pressing ahead with its commitment to downsizing the federal government, with Trump himself having signed an executive order ending remote work policies on his first day back in office.
With the deadline fast approaching, the administration’s plan has left federal employees facing an uncertain future as they weigh their options in what some critics call a de facto purge of the civil service.
Support Our Journalism
The global Indian Diaspora and Australia’s multicultural communities need fair, non-hyphenated, and questioning journalism, packed with on-ground reporting. The Australia Today—with exceptional reporters, columnists, and editors—is doing just that. Sustaining this requires support from wonderful readers like you.
Whether you live in Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States of America, or India you can take a paid subscription by clicking Patreon
