President Trump’s federal worker buyout may give months of extra pay to employees who would have quit anyway.
The White House, which is aggressively pursuing the buyouts, said Tuesday that more than 20,000 people had signed up for the severance. The “largest spike” was expected before Thursday’s deadline.
Administration officials have suggested a savings figure of $100 billion from the buyouts, though outside experts dismiss those kinds of numbers as fanciful.
The offer, officially labeled a “deferred resignation,” is the talk among federal employees as they decide whether to accept.
Many of those considering the offer appear to have been on the way out already. They are now calibrating how to get the most money.
“I plan on taking the offer just because I was going to quit anyway,” said one poster to Reddit’s FedNews forum for federal workers. “I don’t expect the offer to be legit, but why not take it if I plan on quitting in 3 weeks anyway?”
Several others said they were thinking along the same lines.
“I know three people who were putting their paperwork in for this spring who are now holding off to get an extra six to seven months’ pay out of the deal,” said one. “It turns out half-assed plans have half-assed results.”
Some employees are angry enough to stay and fight.
“I’ve never been more motivated to stay,” one commenter said. “I was ready to go job hunting, but then a revelation hit. I took an oath under this position to the American people and leaving my job under the current state would be failing to maintain my oath as a civil servant.”
The buyouts were offered to most federal employees. Those in the military, national security positions and postal service were exempt, and agencies were allowed to designate other exempt positions. Thus, it is difficult to say how many of the government’s 3 million workers are eligible.
One reason for the low number of takers is a distrust of Mr. Trump’s ability to play out the scenario cleanly.
For some, the “sketchy” idea of signing away their jobs by replying to an email was too much. Others worried that legal challenges might upend the buyouts, leaving them in the uncomfortable position of having signaled they wanted to go without the buyout’s protections.
The administration said those who choose the deferred resignation will be put on administrative leave by the end of this month but will receive pay and benefits through Sept. 30.
The offer was made to employees in an email that told them to hit reply and type “Resign” to accept.
Some Reddit posters said interest would have been higher if the government offered a lump sum up front.
Hoping to stoke extra interest, the Office of Personnel Management, the federal government’s central human resources office, said late last week that agencies could use the Voluntary Early Retirement Authority to cajole more people into leaving.
The retirement authority grants exceptions to people who have not served enough time or are not old enough to retire.
Congressional Democrats are worried that the president’s plans will work too well.
Rep. Gerald Connolly of Virginia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, led a letter this week to Mr. Trump calling the deferred resignations an “illegal scam.”
“This offer would precipitate a mass exodus of the most experienced and capable federal employees, leaving our agencies severely understaffed and incapable of fulfilling their responsibilities,” the Democrats said. “The consequences of this brain drain will be felt by every American.”
They told employees to “be skeptical” of the offer.
The buyouts are drawing the most attention this week, with the deadline looming. The offer is just one move Mr. Trump has made in what is shaping up as the most significant federal shake-up in decades.
His team has shut down entire divisions, such as the U.S. Agency for International Development, and retrieved gigabytes of data from the internet.
Mr. Trump has imposed a hiring freeze and signed an executive order to strip some civil service protections from a class of federal employees he says are involved in policymaking, the so-called Schedule F.
The president ordered all employees engaged in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) activities to be put on leave.
Several news outlets reported this week that 1,000 employees at the Environmental Protection Agency who work on climate change matters have been told they are on a probationary period and could lose their jobs.
The Washington Times reached out to labor unions representing federal employees.
Mr. Trump also has issued an order directing teleworking employees to return to the office.
A new memo from OPM said agencies may not have to abide by telework deals they wrote into their collective bargaining agreements.
“Any provisions that require agencies to provide minimum telework levels, or prevents agencies from setting maximum telework levels, are likely unlawful,” acting OPM Director Charles Ezell wrote on Monday.
Some of Mr. Trump’s moves against the workforce are popular.
A poll conducted by Morning Consult last week found that voters supported Mr. Trump’s back-to-office order for federal employees by a 55% to 29% margin.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.