The administration of President Donald Trump is giving federal employees the option to accept a “deferred resignation” with a severance package that includes benefits and around eight months’ worth of pay.
According to a senior administration official who spoke to NBC News, they anticipate that between 5 and 10% of federal employees will leave, which may result in savings of about $100 billion.
All full-time federal employees are eligible, with the exception of those in the armed forces, the US Postal Service, employment involving immigration enforcement and national security, and other positions that agencies have excluded.
In a statement, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated, “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.” “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.”
The buyout bid was first reported by Axios.
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Through a new mechanism that the Trump administration established that allows officials to contact all federal employees at once, the offer was distributed to the federal workforce.
A draft resignation letter was attached to the email for their perusal. If someone wants to leave, they can respond with the term “resign.”
The period for resignations will start on Tuesday and end on February 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 message that federal employees will receive states. “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.”
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Shortly after taking over Twitter, tech mogul Elon Musk, who is currently leading Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency, famously wrote a similar email to staff members, urging them to opt in to continue working for the company. Musk renamed the platform X.
Whether he was involved in the current endeavor was not disclosed by White House officials. However, the email that will be sent to government employees has the subject line, “A fork in the road.”
On X, Musk now has a post featuring a commissioned artwork titled “A Fork in the Road.”