President Donald Trump’s promise to tighten federal spending is set to hit roughly 2 million federal employees Tuesday who will start receiving emails allowing them to take a “deferred resignation,” according to media reports.
The resignation buyouts include a severance package of approximately eight months’ pay with benefits – a move that a senior administration official told NBC News could save the government around $100 billion.
Any employee wishing to take the buyout and resign can reply to a draft resignation letter also sent to them with one word: “resign.” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt described the buyouts as “very generous.”
"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," 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."
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The Trump administration expects 5% to 10% of the federal workforce to quit between Tuesday and the end of the resignation period on Feb. 6, NBC News said.
"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," federal workers will be told in the email, according to the network. "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."
It is still unclear whether tech billionaire Elon Musk, who now leads the new Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, had a say in the employee buyout program.
But as NBC News pointed out, it is a move reminiscent of Musk’s asking his employees to opt in to continue their employment after purchasing Twitter, now X.
