Although it’s unclear how Trump is going to fund his “buy-out” offer for federal employees, so far around 20,000 people have accepted the offer that’s only on the table until tomorrow. That’s about 1% of the federal workforce— but far below the 5-10% Trump and Musk were banking on. A senior Trump regine official told Marc Caputo that "We expect more to come. If you see what's happening at USAID, it's just one piece of the puzzle.” The problem with Trump’s offer is that it’s illegal and there’s no guarantee that anyone who takes it will ever get paid (unless Musk and Trump pay out of their own pockets which is… not likely.)
The original offer entitles federal employees to stop working more or less immediately and continue to be paid through Sept. 30. Caputo noted that “The federal workforce's normal attrition rate is about 6% a year, meaning some of those who've taken the buyout may have been planning to leave government service anyway.” That would be a great deal for them!
But NPR reported yesterday, that “with the deadline to accept the offer nearing, federal agencies have sent out new terms and conditions in the form of a sample contract agreement that employees are told they can use to ‘memorialize’ the deal. It's unclear who from the government would sign the agreements, or whether the contracts would be legally binding. Adding to the confusion, some of the sample contract language diverges from the first email, which came from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. For example, some of the sample contracts sent out state that employees who accept the ‘Fork’ offer are agreeing to work through Feb. 28, to ensure a smooth transition of duties, and will be put on paid administrative leave no later than March 1.”
There’s a bigger deal in the fine print: “In a major departure from language shared earlier, the sample contract agreement that went out Monday to Environmental Protection Agency employees includes language that appears to acknowledge that federal agencies have no guaranteed funding past March 14, when the latest congressional budget agreement expires. ‘Subject to the availability of appropriations, employee shall remain on paid administrative leave up through and including September 30, 2025, or such earlier date on which Employee may choose to resign or otherwise separate from federal service,’ the sample contract language reads. Attorneys, federal employee unions, members of Congress and others have warned federal employees that the promise of pay and benefits beyond March 14 is not guaranteed… The sample contract agreement also asks employees to waive their right to ‘pursue through any judicial, administrative, or other process, any action against [AGENCY] that is based on, arising from, or related to Employee's employment at [AGENCY] or the deferred resignation offer’— and to similarly waive any claim that might be brought on their behalf by a labor union or other entity.”
This whole thing sounds very shady and anyone who takes it is probably making a big mistake, especially sincere all know what a crook Trump has been his whole life, especially in his dealings with working people.
On Monday, Democratic attorneys general from a dozen states, including New York, Michigan, Arizona and California, issued a statement calling the deferred resignation offer "misleading."
"President Trump's so-called buyout offers are nothing more than the latest attack on federal workers and the services they provide. These supposed offers are not guaranteed," wrote New York Attorney General Letitia James in a statement. "Federal employees should be cautious and follow the guidance of their unions to protect their rights."
The Washington Post weighed in that Trump and Musk are preparing for mass firings “after the deferred resignation offer expires Thursday… the sharpest move yet toward forcibly removing many of the 2.3 million civilian federal employees.” Agencies are being asked to fire half their employees.
The Trump administration has cast the federal government has bloated and too easy on low performers, which officials say justifies mass layoffs. But the government has regulations that govern job cuts: An employee’s seniority, performance, whether they are a veteran and other factors must be taken into account.
…Musk shared a post last week on Twitter that claimed that between 5 and 10 percent of workers eligible for the deferred resignation offer would take it. But since the offer went out, Democratic lawmakers and unions representing career civil servants have urged them to reject the deal, which they called a scam.
Trump and Musk are both infamous scam artists. But Russell Vought is less well known. Yesterday, Bernie e-mailed his followers that Vought is “Trump’s architect for the Oligarchy. As CBO Director, his goal will be to make the very rich even richer by dismantling critical government programs that deliver for America’s working class, like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Meals on Wheels, Head Start, and many others. Under Vought, those ‘savings’ will then be used to provide huge tax breaks to Elon Musk and other billionaires. On Thursday, the Senate will vote on Vought’s nomination to be confirmed to the White House Office of Management and Budget. I’m asking you to call your Senators via the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-2131 and demand that they vote NO. Vought is a right-wing extremist who was a lead author of Project 2025. Along with Elon Musk, he is responsible for the recent White House order attempting to freeze all federal assistance, including Medicaid funding, and rip apart the federal workforce. When Vought worked in Congress, he repeatedly drafted plans to drastically cut Medicare, and during the first Trump administration as his budget chief, he drafted budgets that cut Social Security. Vought also wants to outlaw medication abortion nationwide. And just a few days ago, he stated that the 2020 election was ‘rigged’ and did not believe in the outcome.”
Vought’s “fork in the road” offer isn’t just a legally dubious gimmick— it’s a test run for the kind of authoritarian purge Trump and his enablers have been openly planning. With Musk bankrolling the operation and Vought crafting the ideological blueprint, this is about more than just mass firings. It’s a coordinated assault on the federal workforce, meant to strip away institutional expertise and replace career civil servants with loyalist cronies willing to implement the most extreme MAGA policies. And once the protections for federal workers are eroded, the next targets will be the very programs— Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid— that Vought has spent his career trying to dismantle.
This is why Trump II will be even more dangerous than his first term. The haphazard incompetence of his first Trump regime has been replaced with a ruthless strategic effort to gut the government from within. What’s happening now is a preview of the full-scale austerity and authoritarianism that awaits if he isn’t stopped. Democrats and labor unions are starting to sound the alarm, but the question is whether they’ll do it loudly and consistently enough and if people will listen before it’s too late.