Federal employees are being offered buyouts through a new ‘deferred resignation’ initiative, allowing them to resign while receiving pay until September.
Federal employees are being offered buyouts under the Trump administration’s new “deferred resignation” initiative, with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to send emails with the proposal to federal workers, according to Katie Miller, a member of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
“This email is being sent to more than TWO MILLION federal employees,” Miller wrote in a post on X on Jan. 28, in which she shared a report by Axios indicating that the Trump administration will offer to pay eligible federal workers through the end of September, provided that they hand in their resignation by Feb. 6.
A memo from OPM circulated on Jan. 28 in the agency aligns with reporting from Axios cited by Miller. It provides more details about the deferred resignation initiative, though it does not provide any details about the timing and scope of the email containing the proposal that is to be circulated to workers.
The White House did not respond to a request for additional information about the initiative. One of the objectives of DOGE is to reduce the size of the federal workforce as part of its broader mission to enhance governmental efficiency.
The OPM memo indicates that the voluntary program is being offered to all full-time federal employees, with the exception of personnel in the military, the U.S. Postal Service, immigration enforcement, and national security, or any positions specifically excluded by the employing agency.
“Deferred resignation exempts those employees who choose it from return-to-office requirements,” the memo states, noting also that employees who accept deferred resignation should have their duties re-assigned or eliminated promptly and be placed on administrative leave immediately until Sept. 30.
Employees will continue to accrue retirement benefits during the deferred resignation period, while those who miss the Feb. 6 deadline to submit their resignations due to factors like being on leave may be granted an extension, the memo states. Employees will also be allowed to accelerate their resignation date to earlier than Sept. 30, but no extensions will be permitted.
The buyout proposal has drawn criticism from the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the largest union representing federal employees.
By Tom Ozimek
