After the Trump administration supplied two million federal staff buyouts on Tuesday, Elon Musk — the world’s richest man and the architect of Trump’s effort to scale back the dimensions of the federal government — took to his personal social media platform to boast and joke in regards to the supply, leaving some federal staff who spoke to ABC Information dismayed.
By replying to an e-mail despatched out Tuesday, all full-time federal staff — apart from army personnel and postal employees — have the choice to get eight months’ wage if they comply with depart their jobs.
“The federal workforce ought to be comprised of staff who’re dependable, loyal, reliable, and who try for excellence of their each day work,” the e-mail despatched to staff mentioned, providing them what it referred to as a “deferred resignation” from their positions.
Commenting on X, Musk laughed at a particular facet of the supply, writing, “Hit ‘Ship,'” accompanied by a screenshot of the letter to staff describing easy methods to submit their resignation through e-mail.
Musk’s perspective as he works to enact sweeping modifications throughout the federal authorities — doubtlessly impacting lots of of hundreds of profession staff who’ve spent their lives working behind the scenes — will not be misplaced on some employees, who instructed ABC Information that the Trump administration and Musk’s tone have been “merciless” and “demoralizing.”
“It seems like the brand new administration thinks we’re grime and do nothing for the nation,” mentioned one 20-year federal worker who requested to not be recognized out of worry of retribution. “That is heartbreaking.”
In keeping with a replica of the resignation letter posted by the Workplace of Personnel Administration, federal staff need to acknowledge that the positions they vacate could possibly be eradicated or consolidated, and their response to the buyout e-mail could also be used “to help in federal workforce reorganization efforts.”
Tesla, SpaceX and X CEO Elon Musk gestures as he speaks throughout an inauguration occasion, Jan. 20, 2025 in Washington.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Photographs
Whereas staff usually are not anticipated to work throughout their deferred resignation interval, resigning employees must decide to a “clean transition” out of their roles.
Bolstered by an government order that may make it simpler to fireplace profession authorities staff, administration officers mentioned they anticipate the discount of the federal government workforce from the buyout and different government actions to be “vital.”
Unprecedented in its scope and nature, the buyout seems to be one a part of Trump’s sweeping strategy to lowering the dimensions of the federal government — utilizing an strategy that mirrors techniques utilized by Musk prior to now. When Musk took over Twitter in November 2022, he equally despatched a company-wide e-mail that gave employees an ultimatum: work tougher or depart with severance. Yesterday’s e-mail shared the identical topic line — “A fork within the street” — that Musk utilized in his e-mail.
As federal staff had been digesting the phrases of the buyout Wednesday, it was unclear precisely who was eligible for it and whether or not there would actually be severance funds, which could possibly be delayed by litigation.
Max Alonzo, nationwide secretary-treasurer for the Nationwide Federation of Federal Staff, expressed skepticism in regards to the phrases of the resignations.
“Completely don’t resign. There’s nothing that claims that the day that you just resign, that they can not simply allow you to go. They do not need to pay you — there’s nothing that claims they need to pay you until September 30,” he mentioned. “That is nothing that has been achieved earlier than. This isn’t in our rules. There is no regs about it. We’re not even positive if it is really authorized. That is about attempting to chop the federal workforce down, actually sort of simply breaking down these pillars of democracy.”
Overseas service officers inside the State Division acquired the “fork within the street” e-mail, however thus far, State Division officers have been unable to offer their 16,000-person workforce a transparent reply on whether or not they’re eligible to take it, in keeping with an official accustomed to the matter. Even when staffers are deemed eligible for the buyouts, there’s concern that — if sufficient of them take the federal authorities up on its supply — it’s going to have an effect on nationwide safety due to the sudden, drastic downsizing.
“The implications could possibly be actually scary,” mentioned the official, who additionally requested to not be recognized. “This might actually do some injury.”
The sweeping strategy seems to be one of many first monumental steps to reshape the federal government by Musk, who supported Trump’s election with $250 million in contributions and have become one in every of Trump’s closest advisers.
When Trump first introduced his plans to determine the “Division of Authorities Effectivity” in November, he framed it as an outdoor group that may advise the White Home on easy methods to make authorities extra environment friendly. Two months later, when Trump really established DOGE via an government order, he took a special strategy, giving Musk management of what was once often called the USA Digital Service, a unit inside the Government Workplace of the President tasked with enhancing authorities web sites.
In an government order signed the identical day, Trump additionally tasked the Director of the Workplace of Administration and Finances to work with DOGE and the Workplace of Personnel Administration to “submit a plan to scale back the dimensions of the Federal Authorities’s workforce via effectivity enhancements and attrition.”
Along with helming DOGE, Musk has prolonged his affect within the federal authorities by having his former staff and DOGE loyalists tackle important roles in different components of presidency. Scott Kupor — Trump’s choose to steer the Workplace of Personnel Administration. — thanked the president for the “alternative to serve” the nation by serving to Musk, and OMP’s chief of employees Amanda Scales labored for Musk’s AI firm as just lately as this month.
To run the Workplace of Administration and Finances, Trump tapped Challenge 2025 architect Russell Vought, who shares Musk’s want for historic spending cuts and workforce reductions. Vought was a central determine in Trump’s try and categorize hundreds of civil servants as political appointments, making it simpler to fireplace staff with out the protections given to civil servants. As one in every of his first acts in workplace, Trump signed an government order to strip hundreds of presidency employees of their employment protections.
The brand new hirings and government orders symbolize the primary steps in Musk’s plan for “mass head-count reductions throughout the federal forms,” as he wrote within the Wall Road Journal in November.
“DOGE intends to work with embedded appointees in companies to establish the minimal variety of staff required at an company for it to carry out its constitutionally permissible and statutorily mandated features,” wrote Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who just lately departed DOGE to run for public workplace.