Donald Trump offers eight-month buyouts to all federal employees
WASHINGTON − The Trump administration is offering buyouts to all federal employees who don't wish to return to work at the office, in a push to significantly reduce the size of the federal workforce.
The offer, outlined in a memo the U.S. Office of Personnel Management sent to employees Tuesday, would give federal workers eight months of pay and benefits through September if they resign by Feb. 6.
"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 deferred resignation program," the memo reads.
The move, first reported by Axios, comes after President Donald Trump signed an order last week requiring all federal workers to return to in-person work. Work-from-home policies enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic remain in place for many federal workers.
The memo was titled “Fork in the Road,” the same subject line billionaire businessman Elon Musk used when he gave X employees a similar ultimatum in 2022.
Musk, who heads Trump's Department of Government Efficiency, has talked about a drastic reduction of the federal workforce to scale back the size of government and posted about the news on X.
It was not immediately clear how much the voluntary buyout program could cost the government or how many employees might participate.
The federal government employs about 2 million people.
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., questioned the Trump administration’s authority to offer government-wide buyouts. Speaking on the Senate floor, he said employees who accept it risk not being paid.
“Don’t be fooled," Kaine said. "He’s tricked hundreds of people with that offer. If you accept that offer and resign, he’ll stiff you just like he stiffed the contractors. He doesn’t have any authority to do this.”
Under federal guidelines, severance pay is offered only to employees who have worked at least 12 months of continuous service and were not let go for unacceptable performance or conduct.
Employees who accept the buyout should "promptly have their duties re-assigned or eliminated and be placed on paid administrative leave until the end of the deferred resignation period," Charles Ezell, acting director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, wrote in a memo to heads of departments and agencies.
The American Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal employee union, which represents about 800,000 workers, slammed the buyout offer, noting the federal workforce is about the same size as it was in 1970 even though more Americans rely on government services.
"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," AFGE National President Everett Kelley said in a statement.
"This offer should not be viewed as voluntary," Kelley said. "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.”
Since his inauguration last week, Trump has also taken aim at federal employees his administration perceives as hostile to its policy aims. That includes firing Justice Department attorneys who worked for special counsel Jack Smith's Trump investigations and placing dozens of top career employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development on leave.
"There are 2 million employees in the federal government. Overwhelmingly, the career federal service in this country is far left, left-wing," Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff for policy, told CNN on Tuesday. "The American people voted for dramatic change implemented by Donald Trump."
(This article has been updated to add new information.)
Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.