Roughly 154,000 federal employees have taken buyouts offered by the Trump administration this year, part of a broader push to slim the federal workforce, a person familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
The resignations, which amount to 6.7% of the civilian federal workforce, are the result of a program first launched in January by billionaire Elon Musk, a former adviser to President Donald Trump, with an email titled “Fork in the Road.” Similar buyout offers were made in the following months at different agencies.
The number of employees taking buyouts, first reported by the Washington Post, was just above the 5.9% attrition in the U.S. government’s civilian workforce in 2023, a figure compiled by the Partnership for Public Service, a non-profit that compiles statistics on federal staff.
The 154,000 does not include staff who were fired or opted into other programs to slash the federal payrolls, such as an incentive program to retire early.
“In normal times, a 6.7% turnover rate would not be unusual for the federal government,” said Don Moynihan, a professor at the University of Michigan’s Ford School of Public Policy. “But these are not normal times. Along with the firing of probationary employees and other large-scale reductions in force, the deferred resignation program deeply cuts government capacity.”
The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Office of Personnel Management, the federal human resources agency at the heart of Trump’s push to cut federal workers, confirmed the figure and described the program as a cost saver.
“Ultimately, the … program was not only legal, it provided over 150,000 civil servants a dignified and generous departure from the federal government,” the agency said.
Employees opted into the buyout program amid plans from Trump and Musk to eliminate their jobs. In exchange for leaving, the administration agreed to pay the employees for several months after ceasing work, but all will be off federal payrolls by the end of the year, the person emphasized.
Days after the administration closed its initial buyout offer, the administration fired tens of thousands of employees who were new to their jobs. Cabinet secretaries have promised more cuts in the coming months.
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