Trump administration offers 8-month payout to all federal staff who resign

The Donald Trump administration on Tuesday offered nearly 2 million federal government employees an eight-month payout to leave their jobs. The employees have until February 6 to accept the offer.

The development comes amid Trump administration’s pledge to downsize the federal government’s workforce and remove all staffers who are not committed to Trump’s political agenda.

A senior Trump administration official told NBC News that 5-10 per cent employees are expected to accept the offer and it may lead to around $100 billion in savings.

In the email, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which oversees the federal civilian workforce, said that most government agencies are expected to be downsized in the coming days “through restructurings, realignments, and reductions in force”. The OPM further said that the administration would use furloughs and reclassification of career officials as ‘at-will’ for the purpose — the reclassification would make it easier to fire them.

In a statement of intent, the OPM said that government employees would need to show “enhanced standards of conduct” and ensure they are “reliable, loyal, trustworthy”. It further said that those who “engage in unlawful behavior or other misconduct will be prioritised for appropriate investigation and discipline, including termination”.

While the administration has framed the exercise as part of a purported drive to cut wasteful expenditure, critics have seen it as part of efforts to replace career professionals with political appointees or contractors who would do Trump’s bidding irrespective of the righteousness or the legality of his orders. In his first term, Trump wanted his top officials, including Vice President Mike Pence, to illegally overturn the 2020 election in his favour.

It has been pointed out that the OPM’s email is very similar to the one that Elon Musk-owned X (then Twitter) sent to its employees in 2022. Even the subject line of the email, A Fork in the Road, is same. Notably, Musk, the world’s richest man who is now committed to supporting far-right groups worldwide, is part of the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) that is tasked with curbing the government of excess staffers and expenses.

Highlighting the similarities between the two emails, ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett highlighted that while the Twitter email said “only exceptional performance will constitute a passing grade”, the OPM’s email says “the federal workforce should be comprised of the best America has to offer. We will insist on excellence at every level…”. She further noted that while the Twitter email concluded with “whatever decision you make, thank you for your efforts to make Twitter successful”, the OPM’s email mentions “whichever path you choose, we thank you for your service to The United States of America”.