In an unprecedented initiative to drastically reduce the size of the U.S. government, the Trump administration said on Tuesday that it is granting buyouts to all federal employees who choose to quit their employment by next week.
The government’s human resources department, the Office of Personnel Management, issued a memo warning of impending layoffs and announcing that it will start requiring all federal employees to meet higher standards of conduct and appropriateness. Millions of workers received the email, which stated that those who willingly quit their jobs will be paid for roughly eight months, but they must decide to do so by February 6.
Throughout his political career, President Donald Trump has made a commitment to upend Washington, and he has pledged that his second administration will go much farther than his first in challenging established political conventions. However, it was hard to predict the effects of so many government employees being asked to quit.
Katie Miller, a member of the Department of Government Efficiency’s advisory board, a special Trump administration agency led by Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, and charged with reducing the size of government, wrote on X, Over TWO MILLION federal employees are receiving this email.
According to the Pew Research Center, as of November of last year, the federal government employed over 3 million workers, or approximately 1.9% of the country’s total civilian employment. A Pew review of OPM data found that the average tenure for a federal employee is almost 12 years.
The economy and society as a whole could be rocked by even a small percentage of the workforce accepting buyouts. This would have far-reaching and unknown effects on the efficiency, timeliness, and delivery of federal services across the country.
Officials who handle loans for homeowners or small companies, contractors who assist in acquiring the next generation of military weapons, and countless numbers of front-line healthcare professionals in the Veterans Affairs Department might all leave at once. In addition to upsetting everything from air travel to consumer goods protections, it might result in the loss of skilled food inspectors and scientists who test the water supply.
Everett Kelley, the president of the American Federation of Government Employees union, responded by saying that it should not be seen as a voluntary buyout but rather as pressure on employees who are not seen as loyal to the new government to leave their positions.
According to Kelley’s statement, the removal of committed career federal employees from the federal government will have far-reaching, unforeseen repercussions that will devastate the American people who rely on a functional federal government. It is obvious from the rush of anti-worker executive orders and policies that the Trump administration wants to make the federal government a poisonous place where employees are not allowed to stay, even if they wish to.
OPM outlines four instructions that it claims Trump is requiring for the federal workforce moving forward in its emailed memo outlining its plan, one of which is that the majority of employees return to their offices on a full-time basis.
It states that the vast majority of federal workers who have been working from home since COVID will have to go back to their actual offices five days a week. Trump said, “You have to go to your office and work,” in reference to federal employees over the weekend. If not, you will not be employed.
Additionally, the document states that Trump would demand excellence at all levels and that, although his administration may see an increase in the number of employees in select government agencies, most federal agencies are expected to see layoffs.
Last but not least, it states that workers who are dependable, devoted, trustworthy, and who aim for excellence in their day-to-day work should make up the federal workforce.
As we proceed, employees will be held to higher standards of appropriateness and behavior, the memo states.
A postponed resignation letter for government employees to start quitting their jobs is included in the emailed message.
It states that you will be released from all applicable in-person work responsibilities until September 30 and that you will keep all salary and benefits if you quit under this program, regardless of your daily workload.
Even how to accept is explained in the email, which says: If you want to step down: To reply to this email, select Reply. Your government account must be used to respond. It also adds: After typing the term “resign” into the email’s body, click “send.”
In the meanwhile, OPM has published guidelines for the Schedule Career/Policy executive order, which Trump issued on the first day of his second administration. It takes the place of Schedule F, a directive that Trump signed toward the end of his first term with the intention of reclassifying thousands of federal employees as political appointees who would not have the same protections for job security.
Almost soon after entering office in 2021, President Joe Biden revoked Trump’s Schedule F order. Last year, OPM adopted a new rule under his administration that makes it more difficult to terminate a large number of government employees.
In order to help implement the main objectives of Project 2025—a comprehensive plan by a conservative Washington think tank to fire large portions of the federal workforce in favor of more conservative alternatives while also reducing the overall size of government—that action was viewed as a safeguard against using a new Schedule F order.
However, that hasn’t stopped the Trump administration from acting quickly to eliminate the federal workforce and provide workers little way to contest reassignments or terminations.
On Monday, Trump’s OPM established due dates for agencies to start suggesting employees for reclassification. Agency heads are being told to start submitting temporary staffing recommendations within 90 days and to designate a contact person by Wednesday at the latest.
In a memo, OPM interim director Charles Ezell urged agencies to make recommendations on a rolling basis prior to this date.
Even more astonishing was the Trump administration’s personnel office’s decision to simply repeal the Biden administration’s 2024 rule in order to better safeguard federal employees. According to a letter released on Monday, Trump’s new executive order immediately revoked these regulations by using the president’s power.
