Trump administration to offer federal workers a buyout to resign

President Donald Trump’s administration is set to offer every single federal worker the chance to take a “deferred resignation” with a severance package of roughly eight months of pay and benefits.

A senior administration official told NBC News that they expect 5%-10% of the federal workforce to quit, which, they estimate, could lead to around $100 billion in savings.

“American taxpayers pay for the salaries of federal government employees, and therefore deserve employees working on their behalf who actually show up to work in our wonderful federal buildings, also paid for by taxpayers,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. “If they don’t want to work in the office and contribute to making America great again, then they are free to choose a different line of work, and the Trump Administration will provide a very generous payout of 8 months.”

Axios first reported the buyout offer.

The offer is set to go out to the federal workforce through a new system the Trump administration set up that gives officials the ability to email all federal employees at once.

In the email will be a draft resignation letter for them to review. If a person wishes to resign, they will be able to reply with the word “resign.”

The resignation period will begin Tuesday and go through Feb. 6.

“If you choose to remain in your current position, we thank you for your renewed focus on serving the American people to the best of your abilities and look forward to working together as part of an improved federal workforce,” the email that will be sent to federal workers reads. “At this time, we cannot give you full assurance regarding the certainty of your position or agency but should your position be eliminated you will be treated with dignity and will be afforded the protections in place for such positions.”

Tech billionaire Elon Musk, who is now in charge of Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency, famously sent a similar email to employees shortly after he took over Twitter, which he renamed X, asking them to opt in to keep working at the company. 

White House officials wouldn’t say whether he was involved in the current effort. But the subject line of the email sent to federal workers is: “A fork in the road.”

Musk now has a post pinned on X of an art piece he commissioned called “A Fork in the Road.”