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USALatest NewsJob creation and lossesRedundancyResignations

Federal employee deferred resignation programme closes

by Kavitha Sivasubramaniam 13 Feb 2025
by Kavitha Sivasubramaniam 13 Feb 2025 Shutterstock / Yaya Ernst
Shutterstock / Yaya Ernst

Entries are no longer being accepted to a controversial ‘deferred resignation’ scheme offering federal employees financial rewards to leave their jobs, the Trump administration has announced.

Designed to slash the number of US government jobs and precipitate a return to the office, the “buyout” programme provided eight months’ pay to employees who opted to leave their positions.

The closure of the scheme followed a ruling by US district judge George O’Toole that trade unions attempting to halt the programme lacked legal standing. Despite this legal battle, around 75,000 federal employees had already enrolled before the programme’s closure, according to US media reports.

On its website, the US Office of Personnel Management posted that the Fork in the Road programme officially ended at 19:20 ET on 12 February.

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The initiative is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to reduce headcount in the federal government, led by tech billionaire Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency.

The “substantial majority” of federal employees electing to stay in their jobs, will be required to return to their physical offices five days a week

On 28 January, more than two million federal workers were offered eight months of pay to voluntarily resign. The proposal, communicated through an email, was very similar to one sent by Musk to employees after his acquisition of Twitter, now X.

Federal employees initially had until 6 February to accept the deal, although this deadline was extended due to the ensuing legal challenge. It targeted full-time federal employees but excluded postal workers, military personnel, immigration officers and national security officials.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt described the offer as “generous”, claiming it would save the American public tens of millions of dollars. However, Democrats, unions, and advocacy groups have raised concerns about a potential “brain drain” in the federal government and questioned the scheme’s legality.

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and other unions called the offer illegal, arguing that it coerced employees into resigning under the threat of job loss without compensation. They also noted that there was no guarantee of the full eight months of pay, as Congress had not approved government funding beyond mid-March.

Although Judge O’Toole initially issued an injunction to pause the programme, he later ruled that the unions did not have the necessary legal standing to challenge it in court. The White House has not yet commented on the ruling.

AFGE national president Everett Kelley said: “Firing huge numbers of federal employees won’t decrease the need for government services. It will just make those services harder or impossible to access for everyday Americans, veterans, and seniors who depend on them.”

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Kavitha Sivasubramaniam

Kavitha Sivasubramaniam is an experienced journalist, editor and communications professional who has been working in B2B publishing for more than 17 years. After graduating from Bournemouth University with a degree in Multi Media Journalism, Kavitha started her career in local and regional newspapers, before moving to consumer magazines and later trade titles, as well as PR. Specialising in pay and reward, she has been editor of a number of HR publications including Pay & Benefits, Employee Benefits, Benefits Expert, Reward and CIPP’s membership magazine, Professional. In June 2024, she won Pay, Reward and Employee Benefits Journalist of the Year at the Willis Towers Watson media awards. She was also named one of Each Person’s top 20 influential HR bloggers and managed a highly commended content team of the year in 2019.

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