WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥 The Trump administration announced Tuesday that it is offering buyouts to all federal employees who opt to leave their jobs by next week 鈥 an unprecedented move to shrink the U.S. government at breakneck speed.
A memo from the , the government鈥檚 human resources agency, also said it would begin subjecting all federal employees to 鈥渆nhanced standards of suitability and conduct鈥 and ominously warned of future downsizing. The email sent to millions of employees said those who leave their posts voluntarily will receive about eight months of salary, but they have to choose to do so by Feb. 6.
has built a political career around promising to , and vowed that his second administration would go far further in shaking up traditional political norms than his first did. Still, the repercussions of so many government workers being invited to leave their jobs were difficult to calculate.
Katie Miller, who serves on an advisory board to the , a special Trump administration department headed by Tesla CEO Elon Musk and tasked with shrinking the size of government, posted on X, 鈥淭his email is being sent to more than TWO MILLION federal employees.鈥
The federal government employed more than 3 million people as of November last year, which accounted for nearly 1.9% of the nation鈥檚 entire civilian workforce, according to the Pew Research Center. The average tenure for a federal employee is nearly 12 years, according to a Pew analysis of data from OPM.
Even a fraction of the workforce accepting buyouts could send shockwaves through the economy and trigger widespread disruptions throughout society as a whole, triggering wide-ranging 鈥 and as yet unknowable 鈥 implications for the delivery, timeliness and effectiveness of federal services across the nation.
Untold numbers of front-line health workers in the Veterans Affairs Department, officials who process loans for homebuyers or small businesses, and contractors who help procure the next generation of military weaponry could all head for the exits at once. It could also mean losing experienced food inspectors and scientists who test the water supply 鈥 while disrupting everything from air travel and consumer product protections.
In response, American Federation of Government Employees union President Everett Kelley said it should not be viewed as voluntary buyouts, but pressuring workers not considered loyal to the new administration to vacate their jobs.
鈥淧urging the federal government of dedicated career federal employees will have vast, unintended consequences that will cause chaos for the Americans who depend on a functioning federal government,鈥 Kelley said in a statement. "Between the flurry of anti-worker executive orders and policies, it is clear that the Trump administration鈥檚 goal is to turn the federal government into a toxic environment where workers cannot stay even if they want to.鈥
In its emailed memo detailing its plan, OPM lists four directives that it says Trump is mandating for the federal workforce going forward 鈥 including that most workers return to their offices full-time.
鈥淭he substantial majority of federal employees who have been working remotely since Covid will be required to return to their physical offices five days a week,鈥 it reads. That echoes Trump, who said of federal employees : 鈥淵ou have to go to your office and work. Otherwise you鈥檙e not going to have a job.鈥
The memo also says Trump 鈥渨ill insist on excellence at every level,鈥 and while some parts of the government's workforce may increase under his administration, 鈥淭he majority of federal agencies are likely to be downsized."
Finally, it says, the 鈥漟ederal workforce should be comprised of employees who are reliable, loyal, trustworthy, and who strive for excellence in their daily work."
鈥淓mployees will be subject to enhanced standards of suitability and conduct as we move forward,鈥 the memo reads.
The emailed message includes a 鈥渄eferred resignation letter鈥 for federal employees to begin leaving their posts.
鈥淚f you 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,鈥 it says.
The email even includes instructions on how to accept, stating: "If you wish to resign: Select 鈥楻eply鈥 to this email. You must reply from your government account." It adds: 鈥淭ype the word 鈥楻esign' into the body of this email and hit 鈥榮end.鈥"
Meanwhile, OPM has released guidance for an executive order Trump signed on the first day of his second term known as 鈥淪chedule Career/Policy.鈥 It replaces , an order Trump signed late in his first term that sought to reclassify thousands of federal employees and make them political appointees without the same job security protections.
President rescinded Trump鈥檚 Schedule F order almost immediately upon taking office in 2021, and under his administration, OPM last year designed to make it more difficult to fire many federal employees.
That move was seen as a safeguard against using a new Schedule F order to help carry out the key goals of , a sweeping by a conservative Washington think tank to dismiss large swaths of the federal workforce in favor of more conservative alternatives while also cutting back on the overall size of government.
But that hasn鈥檛 stopped the Trump administration from swiftly moving to gut the federal workforce and leave employees with little recourse to protest firings or reassignments.
Trump鈥檚 OPM on Monday set deadlines for agencies to begin to recommend workers for reclassification. Agency heads are being instructed to establish a contact person no later than Wednesday and begin to submit interim personnel recommendations within 90 days.
鈥淎gencies are encouraged to submit recommendations on a rolling basis before this date,鈥 Charles Ezell, the acting director of OPM, said in a memo.
Perhaps more stunning, the Trump personnel office simply did away with the Biden administration鈥檚 2024 regulation to better protect federal workers. Monday's memo said Trump's new executive order used the president's authority 鈥渢o directly nullify these regulations.鈥
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Associated Press writers Zeke Miller and Lisa Mascaro in Washington and Brian Witte in Annapolis, Maryland, contributed to this report.
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This story has been corrected to change the buyout proposal to eight months of salary, not seven.
