(Zero Hedge)—Thursday marked the final day for federal employees to accept the Trump administration’s offer of eight months of pay and benefits in exchange for voluntarily stepping down. According to the latest figures from Bloomberg, at least 40,000 government workers—about 2% of the federal civilian workforce—have opted into the resignation program.
An official from the Office of Personnel Management told Bloomberg that deferred retirement applications have been steadily increasing and are expected to surge by the end of Thursday, the deadline to apply. Employees can submit their resignations by sending the word “resign” to their government email accounts.
“While a few agencies and even branches of the military are likely to see increases in the size of their workforce, the majority of federal agencies are likely to be downsized through restructurings, realignments, and reductions in force,” OPM recently told federal workers in an email.
OPM added: “These actions are likely to include the use of furloughs and the reclassification to at-will status for a substantial number of federal employees.”
The agency also told workers that “consolidation and divestitures” could lead to changes in “physical office” locations.
Reuters noted that federal worker unions have told members not to take the deal. The unions sued to block the offer, with a court hearing scheduled for 1300 ET. Also, Redditors on the “fednews” forum on the Reddit social media platform told other fed workers to “hold the line.”
President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, a special government employee leading the Department of Government Efficiency, have been on a crusade to provide the American people with transparency regarding out-of-control spending by federal agencies. One major win for Trump has been unleashing DOGE to neuter the Deep State’s unlimited piggybank, also known as USAID. The agency has since been rolled into the State Department.
Latest USAID headlines:
- USAID Website Goes Dark As Trump Reportedly Plans To Shift Agency Under State Department
- How Trump’s Dismantling Of USAID Marks A Seismic, Historic Shift In America’s Role In The World
- Elon Musk Is “Special Government Employee”, White House Confirms
- White House Confirms: Politico Propped Up By Millions Of Dollars From US Government
DOGE headlines:
- “Completely Unhinged”: Screaming Democrats Call Musk A “Nazi”, Bash DOGE, Amid Meltdowns Outside Treasury Building
- Trump Suspends Dozens In Education Department As DOGE Devises Plan To Dismantle Agency
- Goldman: DOGE Sparks “Cautious View” On Gov’t IT & Services And Defense Stocks
- DOGE Enters FBI Headquarters To Obtain Names Of 5,000 Agents Who Worked Jan. 6 Cases
The Trump administration estimated that between 5% and 10% of the federal workforce could accept the offer, which would save taxpayers close to $100 billion. This is what swamp draining looks like—a mandate the American people gave Trump.
The big problem with buyouts is the *best performers* will take these (because they can easily find new jobs) and the *worst performers* will stay (because they can’t). Big hit to quality and productivity – although those are generally not priorities in Government.
Love this guy, ElonTrump. Can you believe the mindset the libs have produced in govt workers? Disgusting. Your job is not guaranteed; NO one’s is. God help us when Trump is gone. JD is a damned Catholic. A fake christian. So he’ll be only lip-serving after Trump. I say elect Karoline Leavitt POTUS. She is sharp and not intimidated by anyone. She is impressive.
Massive layoffs in federal government are not new and are not illegal. There was one so big about 25 years ago, it hit even prime contractors so hard, it took years to recover in our area (which has a heavy prime contractor presence). Neither the law nor Unions can stop layoffs, and telling people not to take the golden goose being offered is causing them to miss a real opportunity for securing their finances.
Government jobs are not guaranteed, and this offer is extremely considerate. If you’re a troublemaker or lazy or a grifter, go ahead and believe the 7niins and Reddit, you don’t deserve the golden goose. But if you are a good worker, grab the opportunity now. I suspect the layoffs will occur 8n less than 90 days, and the layoff rate will be more than 50%. The people as well as this administration are behind the cuts. Be wise!
At 90000 per employee (8 ms pay and benefits) and 10% of 3m workforce this comes to $270B.
What’s wrong with this picture?