CNN
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Eligible federal workers will need to decide whether to accept the Trump administration’s postponed resignation offer by 11:59pm Thursday.
At least 40,000 employees have already accepted the package, administrative officials told CNN on Wednesday.
The offer is a drastic effort by the administration to reduce the size of the federal workforce, and makes tough decisions for many employees about their careers and future.
The Human Resources spokesman’s office described the offer as a “rare and generous opportunity,” but it also includes warnings. The administration is planning a widespread layoff soon, two officials told CNN.
However, federal unions have urged members not to accept the package, questioning its legality and the Trump administration’s ability to follow promises.
The United States Federation of Government Employees and several other unions filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts on Tuesday, seeking a temporary restraining order to halt the February 6 deadline. The union also “want to demand that the government clarify legitimate policies rather than the ultimate in arbitrary and illegal abbreviation that workers may not be able to enforce.”
A case hearing is scheduled for Thursday at 1pm.
The 40,000 figure represents about 2% of the approximately 2 million federal employees who received incentives. The White House says the goal is for 5% to 10% of employees to resign.
According to an OPM spokesperson, the administration is hoping for a huge surge in workers filming the package 24-48 hours before the deadline, and the last 24-48 hours before the deadline. Employees outlined the initiative in an OPM email and communicated acceptance of the offer by having a direct conversation with the agency manager.
Certain federal workers, including military personnel, immigration enforcement agencies, certain national security officials, and national road safety board employees are not eligible. But the staff at the Central Intelligence Agency are.
The OPM is also sweetening pots for older federal workers. It offers early retirement incentives known as the Voluntary Early Resignation Bureau, or VERA, to those who meet eligibility criteria and opt in to postponed resignation programs. Employees must be at least 50 years of service for at least 20 years. Or you must be of any age with at least 25 years of service.
The postponed offer of resignation was sent to federal employees on January 28th through the administration’s new mass email system. The subject “Fork in the Road” had many similarities to the emails sent to employees a few days after Elon Musk took over the company. Musk is currently leading Trump’s government efficiency. This is tasked with reducing the federal workforce as one of its duties.
The email has caused confusion, concern and surprise among many recipients. FAQ posted on the OPM website and subsequent emails to workers will be told that employees receiving the offer will be given work, with the exception that the federal government rarely receives full pay even now. I tried to make it clear that there was no need to continue. Funded only by mid-March, and the incentives must be valid and legal.
This package is one of several efforts the Trump administration is making to rebuild the federal workforce. It scales down, replaces career workers with political appointees, wipes out public servant protections, and ends diversity efforts.
The federal employee union has denounced the Trump administration, saying it is trying to send civil servants and replace career workers with political loyalists. They also argued that will hurt Americans by their willingness to reduce the federal workforce.
“Don’t get it wrong. If the attack that the Trump administration launched last month continues to challenge, all members of Congress will be saying why their VA claims have not been dealt with, or why Social Security retirement benefits are not. Hearing quickly from angry and confused constituents about whether Afge National President Everett Kelley was filed on Wednesday for the record of a hearing of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee entitled “The Government of Rights.” This was stated in a statement.
OPM spokesman McLaurine Pinover pushed back the negative characterization of union offers and argued that union leaders were misleading federal workers.
“Union leaders and politicians have told federal workers to reject this offer. This is a rare and generous opportunity, as it is thoroughly vetted and supported by employees through restructuring. It was purposefully designed to be,” Pimber said in a statement Tuesday.
