Cnn
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Federal workers who do not want Back to office are offered redemptions, according to a note Posted on the US staff website on Tuesday evening.
CNN previously pointed out that the buyout offers were expected, according to a Trump administration official and a spokesperson for the OPM.
The administration ordered federal workers, many of whom had flexible work provisions following the pandemic, at the office to work in person. Workers who accept the acquisition will have to resign by February 6 and receive compensation paid until September 30.
Federal agency leaders were informed in the last day that this would happen, said the official.
The memo describing the new policy stipulates that the agency sent an e-mail to federal employees “January 28, 2025, presenting an offer of deferred resignation”.
The email has been sent since hr1@opm.gov using the Trump administration New mass messaging system.
The email said: “The president demanded that employees return to work in person, restored responsibility for employees who have a policy of politics, restored responsibility for career senior executives and reformed the federal hiring process to focus on The merit. Following the above orders, the reform of the federal workforce will be important. »»
Employees who do not take buyout cannot receive a “full insurance concerning the certainty” of their post or agency, the email continued, but if their use was eliminated, they will be treated with dignity and The protections in place for such positions will be offered. “”
Employees have until February 6 to register for the buyout program.
“If you resign within the framework of this program, you will keep all wages and benefits regardless of your daily workload and will be exempt from all working requirements in person applicable until September 30, 2025 (or earlier If you choose to accelerate your resignation for any reason) ”, the email describes.
“People are variously amazed, upset, confused and slightly frightened,” said a federal employee who received the email at CNN.
All employees of the federal government are offered to continue what the spokesperson for the OPM described as paid administrative leave. The Trump administration maintains that the decision could be a ramp out of the ramp for federal employees who do not want to return to the full-time office, but any government employee can take over, said OPM spokesperson.
However, there are a few exceptions to redemptions: postal workers, army members, immigration officials, certain national security roles that the administration would not specify and any other role that agencies will not be able to opt indicated the sources.
Axios was the first to report on buyouts.
Tuesday email to federal employees also noted that the decision to create a more rationalized and flexible workforce is likely to include “the use of content and the reclassification of the status at will for a large number of federal employees ”. Cnn previously reported Donald Trump’s plan to reclassify tens of thousands of workers from the public service, because at will to facilitate their dismissal.
In A separate service note providing advice On buyouts, OPM asked agency leaders to provide information each week until September 30 on the number of workers who resign and retire.
The e-mail object line to federal employees was “fork on the road”, the same object line of a Ultimatum message Elon Musk sent his employees to Twitter in 2022. On the campaign track, Musk frequently talked about reducing the workforce of the federal government. He played an essential role in the deployment of the redemption of the federal government, said an official at CNN, thanks to his position Directing the Government Ministry of Effectiveness in the Trump administration.
“We will reduce a lot of government staff, but we are going to give very long semets,” Musk told a philadelphia rally in October. “Like two years, or something like that.”
The offer extended to federal employees on Tuesday was far from this period.
This decision comes as the Trump administration tightens its grip on the federal bureaucracy, which the president has long characterized as “the deep state” and has promised to dismantle.
Shortly after being inaugurated, Trump ordered the federal agencies to force employees to return to The full -time office and signed a prescription aimed at weakening the federal protections of employees. He also ordered the agencies to work to eliminate offices and diversity, equity and inclusion positions within 60 days and ended the use of DEI in hiring and federal contracts.
Orders have alarmed federal workers And the unions representing them, leaving the employees concern about their work and their ability to carry out the missions that attracted them to the public service, previously reported CNN.
The National Union of National Treasury Employees sent a message to workers on Tuesday saying that the buyout offer was a frightening tactic and urged them not to resign.
“Make no mistake: this email is designed to encourage you or scare you to resign from the federal government,” said the message. “We are examining the email closely and will have more information tomorrow. However, we strongly invite you not to resign in response to this email. »»
The American Federation of Government employees, the largest federal workers’ union, argued on Tuesday that buyouts were part of a larger plan to get rid of civil servants.
“This offer should not be considered voluntary. Between the burst of anti-workman decrees and policies, it is clear that the objective of the Trump administration is to transform the federal government into a toxic environment where workers cannot remain even if they wish “, the president National of Afge Everett Kelley said in a press release.
And Max Stier, the CEO of the Public Service Partnership, said that the efforts of the Trump administration were “perplexed, of questionable and dangerous legality”.
“Americans are counting on federal workers to fly safely, help veterans and the elderly to access their advantages, protect our food and water, protect public health, respond to natural disasters and to maintain the rule of law, “he said in a statement. “The deactivation of expert talents thanks to such a non -strategic approach puts us in danger in a deep manner.”
This story and the title have been updated with additional details.
Tami Luhby de CNN, Sarah Dewberry, Sean Lyngaas, Jeff Zeleny and Pete Muntean contributed to this report.