Tens of Thousands of Federal Workers Accept Trump Administration’s Resignation Offer

[Social Media]

 

Tens of thousands of U.S. government employees have reportedly accepted a resignation offer from the Trump administration, which allows them to continue receiving pay until September 30. The voluntary resignation program, introduced last week, was offered to approximately two million federal workers as part of an ongoing effort to reduce the size of the federal bureaucracy and cut government spending.  

 

Reports indicate that over 1% of the federal workforce—between 20,000 and 40,000 employees—has opted into the program ahead of the Thursday deadline. The White House, which initially projected that as many as 200,000 workers might participate, told media outlets that they expect a surge in resignations within the final 24 hours.  

 

The initiative was announced through a late-night email and has faced strong opposition from unions representing government workers. The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) has taken legal action in an attempt to block the plan. “We won’t stand by and let our members become the victims of this con,” AFGE president Everett Kelley said in a statement on Tuesday afternoon.  

 

On the same day, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) became the first national security agency to extend the resignation offer to its staff, allowing employees to quit while still receiving around eight months of pay and benefits. However, the exact eligibility criteria remain unclear, and CNN reported that some areas of expertise within the agency may be restricted from participating. A source familiar with the matter stated that newly appointed CIA Director John Ratcliffe personally pushed for the agency’s involvement in the resignation program.  

 

Additionally, the CIA has imposed a hiring freeze on candidates who had already received conditional offers. According to the *Wall Street Journal*, an aide to Ratcliffe suggested that some of these offers might be revoked if the applicants do not align with the administration’s priorities, including policies related to tariffs and efforts to undermine China.  

 

The Trump administration’s push to scale back the federal government, with significant input from tech billionaire Elon Musk, has been widely praised by leading Republicans. House Speaker Mike Johnson, speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, commended the initiative. “The stewardship of precious American taxpayer dollars is being well-handled,” he stated, calling the program “a long overdue, much welcome development.”

 

Based on a report by BBC 2025-02-07

 

 

[candide]

Under voluntary schemes, the ones who leave are often the ones who can easily find another job..... because they have a qualification which is demanded on the job market.

[Cryingdick]

15 minutes ago, candide said:

Under voluntary schemes, the ones who leave are often the ones who can easily find another job..... because they have a qualification which is demanded on the job market.

We wish them well in the private sector. if it is as you say they may be able to provide valuable services for companies that create things and add to the GDP. 

[kimothai]

8 hours ago, candide said:

Under voluntary schemes, the ones who leave are often the ones who can easily find another job..... because they have a qualification which is demanded on the job market.

I went thru this same process back in the 90's when Clinton started closing government (mostly military) bases.  People found jobs all over the place including different government jobs (as in my case) and some just took advantage of an early retirement that wouldn't be available under normal conditions.

[Purdey]

Great idea. Pay the CIA guys to take a holiday in Russia. 

Others may get a job, but they are mostly administrators. What will they do if they can't find anything that their history degrees qualify them for?

[wwest5829]

12 hours ago, candide said:

Under voluntary schemes, the ones who leave are often the ones who can easily find another job..... because they have a qualification which is demanded on the job market.

Or are at/approaching retirement age?

[wwest5829]

12 hours ago, Cryingdick said:

We wish them well in the private sector. if it is as you say they may be able to provide valuable services for companies that create things and add to the GDP. 

Or go into lobbying at higher pay … Devil’s in the details. What is the average annual turnover? Has Congress appropriated funds for this buy out?

[candide]

1 minute ago, wwest5829 said:

Or are at/approaching retirement age?

I guess it depends on the impact on their pension.

[placeholder]

2 hours ago, wwest5829 said:

Or are at/approaching retirement age?

Good point. There are about 2 million federal employees. I think that number doesn't include the post office or armed forces. At any rate 10's of thousand really doesn't necessarily amount to much. 1/40th of that number is 50,000.

[candide]

Judge temporarily blocks Trump plan offering incentives for federal workers to resign

https://apnews.com/article/buyout-offer-deadline-trump-federal-workers-ce854b19c41b90cd657f75cf09511e96

[Tug]

4 hours ago, wwest5829 said:

Or go into lobbying at higher pay … Devil’s in the details. What is the average annual turnover? Has Congress appropriated funds for this buy out?

You may have just uncovered the way the trump/musk presidency will defraud any government worker who takes this option.(has congress appropriated the funds) wouldn’t surprise me in the least with the felons track record of burning vendors.

[placeholder]

A good reason not to take up the offer is that Congress could well reject paying these people. Originally, it was cast as a buyout. But it's not that since a buyout is an upfront payment accompanied by termination of employment.

[Lacessit]

17 hours ago, candide said:

Under voluntary schemes, the ones who leave are often the ones who can easily find another job..... because they have a qualification which is demanded on the job market.

Doesn't that mean dumbing down of the various government organisations overall, if it loses its best people?

[theblether]

1 hour ago, candide said:

Judge temporarily blocks Trump plan offering incentives for federal workers to resign

https://apnews.com/article/buyout-offer-deadline-trump-federal-workers-ce854b19c41b90cd657f75cf09511e96

 

The White House is over the moon, they can now extend the deadline. 

 

And if it's found to be a legal offer ( likely ) more people will accept. 

 

ps - the figure I saw was 60,000 accepted. 

[candide]

22 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Doesn't that mean dumbing down of the various government organisations overall, if it loses its best people?

That was point, which obviously escaped the attention of other posters.

 

The best ones leave, in particular as they are usually offered at least partial telework (another good reason to leave, in particular those working in computing and data science). And the "bad" ones stay.

 

The same logic also applies to departments. It can be expected that more people would leave computing departments, than purely administrative departments.

[candide]

3 minutes ago, theblether said:

 

The White House is over the moon, they can now extend the deadline. 

 

And if it's found to be a legal offer ( likely ) more people will accept. 

 

ps - the figure I saw was 60,000 accepted. 

Well, to check whether it's legal or not, before starting it, would have spared some trouble and confusion.. And, as you you mention, if proven legal before, they may have got more people accepting it.

 

As to the dealine, it's the current administration that decides about it. If they want to extend it, they don't need a Judge decision.