Roughly 20,000 Federal Workers Have Accepted Trump’s Buyout Offer: Report

According to a Trump administration official, roughly 20,000 federal workers have accepted the “buyout” offer President Donald Trump offered last week.

On January 28, the U.S. Office of Personal Management sent a “Deferred Resignation Email” to federal employees. It noted that President Trump had issued directives requiring employees to return to in-person work and intended to reform the federal hiring process to focus on merit. It offered employees the opportunity to maintain their current compensation and retain all existing benefits (including but not limited to retirement accruals) until their final resignation date.

“We expect more to come. If you see what’s happening at USAID, it’s just one piece of the puzzle,” the official told Axios.

“Workers who accept the buyout will need to resign by February 6 and would receive severance paid through September 30,” CNN noted. “The offer extends to the majority of the 2.3 million federal workforce, with notable exceptions including military personnel, U.S. Postal Service employees and those in immigration enforcement, national security roles or other agency-excluded positions,” Forbes explained.

“The federal workforce is expected to undergo significant near-term changes,” OPM asserted. “As a result of these changes (or for other reasons), you may wish to depart the federal government on terms that provide you with sufficient time and economic security to plan for your future—and have a nice vacation. … Any government shutdown could potentially affect an employee’s pay regardless of whether he or she has accepted the deferred resignation offer. Moreover, if you accept the deferred resignation offer, you would still be entitled to backpay under the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019.”

“If your retirement date is between October 1, 2025 and December 31, 2025, you are still eligible for deferred resignation (unless your position is exempted from the deferred resignation program by your agency).  If your retirement date is within this window, your deferred resignation date will be extended to match your retirement date,” OPM stated.