The Trump Administration is expected to offer a buyout package to all Federal Employees. Any 2 million or so employees who accept the offer will be given a severance package, which includes 8 months of their salary and benefits.
NBC News reports that they spoke to a senior administration official who stated that an estimated 5 to 10 percent of the federal workforce could accept the offer, saving as much as $100 billion.
BREAKING: The Trump administration is set to offer every single federal worker the chance to take a "deferred resignation" with a severance package of roughly eight months of pay and benefits, an official says. https://t.co/QRqkkiKsN3
— NBC News (@NBCNews) January 28, 2025
Immediately upon taking office, Donald Trump upset many federal workers when he ended the Covid era work-from-home policy requiring workers to show up at the office.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the 'Deferred Resignation' would allow employees who don't want to work in the office to find another line of work.
"American taxpayers pay for the salaries of federal government employees, and therefore deserve employees working on their behalf who actually show up to work in our wonderful federal buildings, also paid for by taxpayers," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. "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 8 months."
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All full-time federal employees are eligible for the buyout, with the exception of the military, postal service, immigration, national security, and other specific jobs excluded by federal agencies.
WAIT? President Trump is offering all 2 MILLION federal workers a buyout to resign???
— George (@BehizyTweets) January 28, 2025
100,000 - 200,000 workers are expected to take the deal, which will save us $100 BILLION.
This guy isn't playing at all. He wants the swamp drained.
The move is not entirely unprecedented. When Elon Musk, the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, bought Twitter, he made a similar offer to its employees. The level of Musk's involvement in this effort has not been reported.
There may have been signs.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk, who is now in charge of Trump's new Department of Government Efficiency, famously sent a similar email to employees shortly after he took over Twitter, which he renamed X, asking them to opt in to keep working at the company.
White House officials wouldn't say whether he was involved in the current effort. But the subject line of the email that will be sent to federal workers is: "Fork in the Rroad."
Musk now has a post pinned on X of an art piece he commissioned called "A Fork in the Road."
The 'Fork in the Road' post:
Two years ago, I commissioned an art piece: A Fork in the Road.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 7, 2024
Had to make sure that civilization took the path most likely to pass the Fermi Great Filters. pic.twitter.com/mYFzdAy6WF
The e-mail that the employees will receive welcomes anyone who chooses to stay, but it does not assure them that their jobs are safe if they do.
The resignation period will begin Tuesday and go through Feb. 6.
"If you choose to remain in your current position, we thank you for your renewed focus on serving the American people to the best of your abilities and look forward to working together as part of an improved federal workforce," the email that will be sent to federal workers reads. "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 and will be afforded the protections in place for such positions."
It seems that one way or the other, the federal workforce is going to get smaller.
If that's what it takes to get rid of these career leeches I'm all for it
— Rahl🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@Realtruth1978) January 28, 2025
This is a great step!
— Joshua’s Phantom. (@Joshsphantom) January 28, 2025
Now let’s end the IRS and federal income taxes.
And the Fed, and the Department of Education, and...
🚨 #BREAKING: President Trump is offering all 2 MILLION federal workers the chance to resign in exchange for an 8 month severance package
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) January 28, 2025
The White House expects between 5-10% of workers to quit, leading to $100 BILLION in savings
GREAT move by Trump and DOGE! pic.twitter.com/pedqkqUwI6
Trump and DOGE are on a 2 trillion dollar mission to make the government smaller and more efficient. Convincing up to 10% of the federal workforce to leave on their own seems like a great first step.
DRAIN THE SWAMP!
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