'He'll stiff you': Senator warns federal workers Trump's 'buyout' offer is bogus

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) has an urgent warning for federal workers considering President Donald Trump's buyout offer: it's bogus.

According to CBS News Capitol Hill correspondent Alan He, Kaine issued his warning on the Senate floor on Tuesday, following reports of the buyout proposal. "The President has no authority to make that offer," said Kaine. "There's no budget line item to pay people who are not showing up for work ... If you accept that offer and resign, he'll stiff you."

Trump has been accused of not paying workers what he promised, dating back to his days when private contractors said he ripped them off, and even attorneys he hired who said he stiffed them for legal services.

The buyout offer, which reportedly extends to every worker in the entire federal civil service, does not appear to actually entitle government employees to a compensation package without work; rather, it lets them take a "deferred resignation," where they can remain in their job for up to 8 months and be exempt from Trump's new executive order mandating federal employees return to full-time in-office work.

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Trump's press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, described the proposal as a win for the budget.

"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. 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."

According to ABC News' Cheyenne Haslett, the memo outlining the deal to government employees is extremely similar to that sent to employees of Twitter, since renamed X, after pro-Trump tech billionaire Elon Musk took over the company — right down to the title "A Fork in the Road," and similar language and terms.