The Trump administration has offered federal workers buyouts worth more than seven months’ salary if they would leave their jobs by 6 February as the White House attempts to slash the civil service in an unprecedented overhaul of US government.
The office of personnel management, the government’s human resources agency, sent a memo to the federal workforce on Tuesday evening with four directives that it says Trump is mandating, including a full-time return to the office for most employees. It also said that the federal workforce would be subjected to “enhanced standards of suitability and conduct” and warned that most agencies would be downsized.
“If you choose not to continue in your current role in the federal workforce, we thank you for your service to your country and you will be provided with a dignified, fair departure from the federal government utilizing a deferred resignation program,” the email reads. “This program begins effective January 28 and is available to all federal employees until February 6.”
The email includes a “deferred resignation letter” for federal employees who want to participate. Under the offer, they will retain all pay and benefits “regardless of daily workload and will be exempted from all applicable in-person work requirements until September 30”.
Trump has pledged to radically remake government, including significantly shrinking the federal workforce and cutting trillions of dollars of spending – an agenda his administration is attempting to implement at breakneck speed.