President Donald Trump is offering buyouts to agency employees who don’t want to comply with his demands that they return to the office as he looks to reshape the federal workforce in his second term.
The buyouts will run through Sept. 30 as long as the employees resign by Feb. 6, according to a White House official who shared details of the personnel plan on condition of anonymity. The offers were first reported by Axios.
The buyouts were offered in an email to federal employees that also warned that the administration was seeking a “more streamlined and flexible workforce.”
“While a few agencies and even branches of the military are likely to see increases in the size of their workforce, the majority of federal agencies are likely to be downsized through restructurings, realignments, and reductions in force,” the email said. “These actions are likely to include the use of furloughs and the reclassification to at-will status for a substantial number of federal employees.”
Many of Trump’s actions are likely to face court challenges. The head of the American Federation of Government Employees in a statement Tuesday said Trump’s “goal is to turn the federal government into a toxic environment where workers cannot stay even if they want to.”
“Purging 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,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley said.
Trump in one of his first actions of his new administration, ordered government workers back to the office, revoking work-from-home accommodations under his predecessor Joe Biden.
On Monday, the Trump administration gave agencies until Feb. 7 to devise plans for the return of federal employees to in-person work. The return-to-office mandate applies to federal workers “unless excused due to a disability, qualifying medical condition, or other compelling reason certified by the agency head.” Military spouses working civilian jobs are also exempt.
In addition, separate guidance from the Office of Personnel Management on Monday gave Trump authority to hire and fire some employees who previously had civil service protection.
Return-to-work policies are a focus of Elon Musk, the billionaire Tesla Inc. and SpaceX CEO heading the Department of Government Efficiency. Musk pushed for the mandate in an attempt to encourage some federal workers to simply quit or be fired as no-shows.
Many federal workers are covered by collective bargaining agreements, including one that Social Security Administration workers secured in the final days of the Biden administration, that allow more flexible work arrangements.
Data from the Office of Management and Budget show that about 10% of the workforce is permanently remote — including disabled workers with a documented accommodation, military spouses and those where the nature of the work is mobile.