A document issued to the US Office of Personnel Management's website Tuesday night states that buyouts are being offered to federal employees who do not choose to return to the office.
According to an OPM representative and a Trump administration source, CNN previously reported that the buyout proposals were anticipated.
Many government employees had flexible work schedules after the pandemic, but the administration has ordered them to return to the office to work in person. Employees who take the buyout will receive severance pay through September 30 and must quit by February 6.
According to the person, leaders of federal agencies were informed of this coming within the previous day.
The agency emailed federal employees "on January 28, 2025 presenting a deferred resignation offer," according to the memo introducing the new policy.
The Trump administration's new mass email system was used to send the email from hr1@opm.gov.
"The President reformed the federal hiring process to focus on merit, demanded that employees resume in-person work, and restored accountability for senior career executives and employees with policy-making authority," the email stated. The government workforce will undergo major restructuring as a result of the aforementioned measures.
The email went on to say that although workers who choose not to accept a buyout cannot be offered "complete assurance regarding the certainty" of their position or agency, they "will be treated with dignity and will be afforded the protections in place for such positions" in the event that their job is removed.
The buyout option is open to employees until February 6.
"You will be released from all applicable in-person work requirements until September 30, 2025 (or earlier if you choose to accelerate your resignation for any reason)," the email states, adding that "if you resign under this program, you will retain all pay and benefits regardless of your daily workload."
"People are a little scared, confused, angry, and shocked," a government employee who got the email told CNN.
According to the OPM spokeswoman, all federal employees are being offered paid administrative leave. "Any government employee can take the buyout," the OPM representative said, despite the Trump administration's argument that the move could be an off-ramp for federal employees who do not want to return to the office full-time.
Postal employees, military personnel, immigration officers, some national security positions that the administration did not define, and any other position that agencies determine is required will not be eligible to participate in the buyouts, according to the sources.
The buyouts were first reported by Axios.
The email sent to federal workers on Tuesday also mentioned that "the use of furloughs and the reclassification to at-will status for a substantial number of federal employees" are likely to be part of the effort to establish a more efficient and flexible workforce. Donald Trump's proposal to reclassify tens of thousands of civil service personnel as at-will workers would make firing them much simpler, according to a recent CNN story.
OPM requested that agency heads submit data on the number of employees quitting and retiring each week until September 30 in a separate memo that offered instructions on the buyouts.
"Fork in the Road"
Elon Musk sent an ultimatum email to his Twitter staff in 2022 with the same subject line as the one he delivered to federal employees: "Fork in the Road." Musk often discussed cutting the federal government during his campaign. As head of the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency, he has been instrumental in the implementation of the federal government buyout, an official told CNN.
At a rally in Philadelphia in October, Musk declared, "We will give very long severances, but we will reduce a lot of government headcount." "For example, two years, or something."
Federal personnel were included in the offer. Tuesday was a long cry from that time frame.
This action coincides with the Trump administration's increasing control over the federal bureaucracy, which the president has long called the "deep state" and promised to abolish.
Shortly after taking office, Trump signed an order to erode federal employee rights and directed federal agencies to mandate full-time return to work. Additionally, he terminated the use of DEI in federal contracting and recruiting and directed agencies to work toward eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion offices and posts within 60 days.
According to a recent CNN story, the instructions have caused concern among federal employees and their union representatives, who are concerned about their careers and their capacity to fulfill the goals that drew them into public service.
Workers received a message from the National Treasury Employees Union on Tuesday, warning them not to quit and calling the buyout offer a fear tactic.
The message read, "Be clear: the purpose of this email is to intimidate or lure you into leaving the federal government." "We are carefully going over the email and will give further details tomorrow. However, we strongly advise against responding to this email by resigning.
The biggest federal workers' union, the American Federation of Government Employees, contended on Tuesday that the buyouts were a component of a broader strategy to fire civil servants.
It is not appropriate to consider this offer to be voluntary. The Trump administration's objective is to create a poisonous workplace where employees cannot remain, even if they wish to, according to the flurry of anti-worker executive orders and regulations, AFGE National President Everett Kelley said in a statement.
Additionally, the Partnership for Public Service's CEO, Max Stier, described the Trump administration's initiatives as "dangerous, confusing, and of questionable legality."
According to a statement he released, "Americans depend on federal employees to fly safely, assist veterans and the elderly in accessing their benefits, ensure the safety of our food and water, safeguard public health, respond to natural disasters, and uphold the rule of law." "We are all gravely at risk when we remove skilled talent in such a non-strategic manner."
