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 cut back the scale of the federal government — took to his personal social media platform to boast and joke concerning 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 — excluding army personnel and postal employees — have the choice to get eight months’ wage if they comply with go away their jobs.
“The federal workforce ought to be comprised of staff who’re dependable, loyal, reliable, and who attempt for excellence of their every day work,” the e-mail despatched to staff mentioned, providing them what it known as a “deferred resignation” from their positions.
Commenting on X, Musk laughed at a particular side of the supply, writing, “Hit ‘Ship,'” accompanied by a screenshot of the letter to staff describing the right way to submit their resignation through e-mail.
Musk’s perspective as he works to enact sweeping adjustments throughout the federal authorities — probably impacting a whole lot of 1000’s of profession staff who’ve spent their lives working behind the scenes — just isn’t misplaced on some employees, who informed ABC Information that the Trump administration and Musk’s tone have been “merciless” and “demoralizing.”
“It looks 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 accordance with a replica of the resignation letter posted by the Workplace of Personnel Administration, federal staff need to acknowledge that the positions they vacate might 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 should not anticipated to work throughout their deferred resignation interval, resigning employees have to decide to a “clean transition” out of their roles.
Bolstered by an govt order that might make it simpler to fireside profession authorities staff, administration officers mentioned they count on the discount of the federal government workforce from the buyout and different govt actions to be “vital.”
Unprecedented in its scope and nature, the buyout seems to be one a part of Trump’s sweeping method to decreasing the scale of the federal government — utilizing an method that mirrors ways utilized by Musk previously. When Musk took over Twitter in November 2022, he equally despatched a company-wide e-mail that gave employees an ultimatum: work more durable or go away with severance. Yesterday’s e-mail shared the identical topic line — “A fork within the highway” — that Musk utilized in his e-mail.
As federal staff have 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 might be delayed by litigation.
Max Alonzo, nationwide secretary-treasurer for the Nationwide Federation of Federal Workers, expressed skepticism concerning the phrases of the resignations.
“Completely don’t resign. There may be nothing that claims that the day that you simply 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 executed earlier than. This isn’t in our rules. There isn’t any regs about it. We’re not even positive if it is really authorized. That is about making an attempt to chop the federal workforce down, actually form of simply breaking down these pillars of democracy.”
Overseas service officers inside the State Division acquired the “fork within the highway” e-mail, however up to now, 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 response to 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’ll have an effect on nationwide safety due to the sudden, drastic downsizing.
“The implications might be actually scary,” mentioned the official, who additionally requested to not be recognized. “This might actually do some injury.”
The sweeping method 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 all Trump’s closest advisers.
When Trump first introduced his plans to ascertain the “Division of Authorities Effectivity” in November, he framed it as an outdoor group that might advise the White Home on the right way to make authorities extra environment friendly. Two months later, when Trump really established DOGE by means of an govt order, he took a distinct method, giving Musk management of what was referred to as the USA Digital Service, a unit inside the Government Workplace of the President tasked with bettering authorities web sites.
In an govt order signed the identical day, Trump additionally tasked the Director of the Workplace of Administration and Price range to work with DOGE and the Workplace of Personnel Administration to “submit a plan to cut back the scale of the Federal Authorities’s workforce by means of 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 vital roles in different elements 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 workers Amanda Scales labored for Musk’s AI firm as just lately as this month.
To run the Workplace of Administration and Price range, Trump tapped Venture 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 to categorize 1000’s of civil servants as political appointments, making it simpler to fireside staff with out the protections given to civil servants. As one in all his first acts in workplace, Trump signed an govt order to strip 1000’s of presidency employees of their employment protections.
The brand new hirings and govt orders symbolize the primary steps in Musk’s plan for “mass head-count reductions throughout the federal paperwork,” as he wrote within the Wall Avenue Journal in November.
“DOGE intends to work with embedded appointees in businesses to determine 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.
