Thousands of federal employees have accepted the buyout offer from the Trump administration, which allows them to leave their jobs in the government workforce in exchange for eight months’ worth of pay and benefits.
The White House believes that the offer will lower the government payroll by 5% to 10%. Employees have until Thursday to determine whether or not to accept it.
On Tuesday, Axios was the first to disclose that around 20,000 federal employees have accepted the offer, which is less than one percent of the total number of government employees.
A White House insider told, “I can tell you the 20K number isn’t current, the number of deferred resignations is rapidly growing, and we’re expecting the largest spike 24 to 48 hours before the deadline.”
It is thought that the buyout offer is applicable to a minimum of 2.3 million federal employees.
The administration believes that if it achieves its objective of having 5% to 10% of the federal workforce accept the offer, it could save taxpayers about $100 billion.
The average annual attrition rate for government employees is approximately 6%. It is not entirely certain how many of the people who accepted the buyout intended to leave their positions regardless of the offer.
Elon Musk, a tech mogul who is in charge of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), had often hinted at the prospect of a buyout bid during the latter half of the 2024 campaign and in the weeks that followed.
President Trump, in collaboration with Musk, has been eager to make significant changes to the federal government in order to reduce its size and scope.
Some critics have raised the question of whether the buyout offers are even legal, arguing that Congress would have had to approve such a drastic drop in the number of employees.
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Unions in the public sector have recommended that their members do not accept the buyout.
The American Federation of Government Employees, which is the largest organization for federal employees, cautioned its members that they should not take the Program at face value.
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“It is also uncertain whether the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has the legal authority to support the Program or its purported benefits, and the eligibility requirements are not clearly defined.”
