There’s good news for federal employees who were unhappy to learn they were expected to return to working in the office under the new Trump administration: They have another option — a buyout.
The White House will issue a memo Tuesday offering to pay federal workers who don’t want to return to the office through Sept. 30, as long as they resign by Feb. 6, an administration official tells Axios.
Why it matters: It’s an acceleration in President Trump’s already unprecedented purge of the federal workforce.
What they’re saying: “The government-wide email being sent today is to make sure that all federal workers are on board with the new administration’s plan to have federal employees in office and adhering to higher standards. We’re five years past COVID and just 6 percent of federal employees work full-time in office. That is unacceptable,” a senior administration official tells Axios.
- The White House expects 5% to 10% of federal employees to accept the offer, which would potentially mean hundreds of thousands of people.
- The administration projects the buyouts could ultimately save taxpayers up to $100 billion a year.
Zoom out: The offer applies to all full-time federal employees, except for military personnel, the Postal Service, and those working in immigration enforcement or national security.
President Trump Is Expected to Sign Over 200 Executive Orders Monday, Here’s What to Expect
Trump set things in motion soon after he was sworn in, issuing an executive order on Inauguration Day that required federal employees to return to work in person.
Heads of all departments and agencies in the executive branch of Government shall, as soon as practicable, take all necessary steps to terminate remote work arrangements and require employees to return to work in-person at their respective duty stations on a full-time basis, provided that the department and agency heads shall make exemptions they deem necessary.
This memorandum shall be implemented consistent with applicable law.
This prompted a hue and cry from many in the federal workforce, as reported by Jennifer Oliver O’Connell.
But entitlement is real, and it hasn’t stopped them from melting down. First up, employees were not happy about being told they had to return to an actual office to do their jobs. One GG12 Court Services and Offender Supervision employee, who makes at least $104,000 a year, is highly upset over the fact that the “Cheeto” has taken away her telework.
Genesis Cuesta, a federal employee at @DC_CSOSA, publicly rebuking @POTUS as “Cheeto” and mad as hell that telework is canceled pic.twitter.com/G2JGsgk35d
— NOVA Campaigns (@NoVA_Campaigns) January 26, 2025
Now, though, as noted, the White House is offering those employees who aren’t on board with returning to a traditional in-office work environment a pretty sweet buyout deal: Eight months’ severance and an opportunity to find employment — elsewhere — that allows for telework.
Further details of the offer — and the administration’s approach — can be found at the Office of Personnel Management website under the heading “Fork in the Road”:
That keeps it pretty simple. The memo lists the “four pillars” of the federal workforce reform:
- Return to office
- Performance culture
- More streamlined and flexible workforce
- Enhanced standards of conduct
Buyout Memo sent to federal employees posted online here: https://t.co/iIt9KSFv1I
Titled “Fork in the Road”
The same title @elonmusk gave to a 30-foot-tall steel art installation he commissioned pic.twitter.com/m7C4M4qxXs
— Will Steakin (@wsteaks) January 28, 2025
With a federal workforce of two million employees, if between 5 and 10 percent of them accept the offer, that means up to 200,000 may elect to leave federal employment. And, realistically, the ones who do are those most likely to not be in sync with the Trump administration’s policies and aims, so…win-win, right?
