President Donald Trump's administration is offering federal workers the chance to take a "deferred resignation," which would mean they agree now to resign but get paid through September.
A senior administration official told NBC News that they expect 5%-10% of the federal workforce to quit, which, they estimate, could lead to around $100 billion in savings.
All full-time federal employees are eligible, except for members of the military, employees of the U.S. Postal Service, positions related to immigration enforcement and national security and other jobs excluded by agencies.
"American taxpayers pay for the salaries of federal government employees, and therefore deserve employees working on their behalf who actually show up to work in our wonderful federal buildings, also paid for by taxpayers," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. "If they don’t want to work in the office and contribute to making America great again, then they are free to choose a different line of work, and the Trump Administration will provide a very generous payout of 8 months."
Axios first reported the buyout offer.
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The offer went out to the federal workforce through a new system the Trump administration set up that gives officials the ability to email all federal employees at once.
The email included a draft resignation letter for them to review. If a person wishes to resign, they will be able to reply with the word "resign."
The resignation period will begin Tuesday and go through Feb. 6.
"If you choose to remain in your current position, we thank you for your renewed focus on serving the American people to the best of your abilities and look forward to working together as part of an improved federal workforce," the email that will be sent to federal workers reads. "At this time, we cannot give you full assurance regarding the certainty of your position or agency but should your position be eliminated you will be treated with dignity and will be afforded the protections in place for such positions."
The email also tells workers that if they resign under this program, "you will retain all pay and benefits regardless of your daily workload and will be exempted from all applicable in-person work requirements until September 30, 2025 (or earlier if you choose to accelerate your resignation for any reason)."
AFGE National President Everett Kelley sharply condemned the Trump administration's email, saying it "should not be viewed as voluntary."
“The number of civil servants hasn’t meaningfully changed since 1970, but there are more Americans than ever who rely on government services," Kelley said. "Purging the federal government of dedicated career civil servants will have vast, unintended consequences that will cause chaos for the Americans who depend on a functioning federal government."
"Between the flurry of anti-worker executive orders and policies, it is clear that the Trump administration’s goal is to turn the federal government into a toxic environment where workers cannot stay even if they want to," he added.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk, who is now in charge of Trump's new Department of Government Efficiency, famously sent a similar email to employees shortly after he took over Twitter, which he renamed X, asking them to opt in to keep working at the company.
White House officials wouldn't say whether he was involved in the current effort. But the subject line of the email that will be sent to federal workers is: "Fork in the Road."
It's the same subject line Musk used in that email to Twitter employees. And Musk now has a post pinned on X of an art piece he commissioned called "A Fork in the Road."
