It’s being reported this morning that tens of thousands of federal employees have already accepted President Trump’s buyout and the administration expects more to take the offer before Thursday.

The exact number is about 20,000 so far, which is 1% of the workforce. Those taking the buyout will get paid until September.

Here’s the news via Axios:

About 20,000 federal workers have accepted the “buyout” offer put forward by the Trump administration last week, a senior administration official tells Axios.

It’s a significant number of people — about 1% of the federal workforce — but still substantially less than the White House’s target of 5% to 10%.

The offer is open through Thursday, meaning the total could rise, despite heavy opposition from unions and others.

“We expect more to come. If you see what’s happening at USAID, it’s just one piece of the puzzle,” the official said, referring to the rapid restructuring of the federal agency that oversees foreign aid programs.

Aside from the pace of resignations, the official said, the administration is still trying to implement a hiring freeze.
It has proven trickier than expected because some agencies are still taking on new workers.

The buyout offer entitles federal employees to stop working more or less immediately and continue to be paid through Sept. 30.

Critics argue the offer is illegal, there’s no real guarantee people will get paid out, and it’s something Congress would need to authorize.

The administration rejects those assertions and says it’s following through on a promise to restructure the federal government.

Boom. President Trump is truly transformational. It’s only been two weeks and he’s already shrinking the size of government substantially.