More than 40,000 federal workers have reportedly raised their hands to leave, putting the Trump administration at risk of falling short of its aim for cutting the government through voluntary measures.
The Office of Personnel Management last week reminded workers that they have until Thursday to decide whether to seek a buyout. People who do so can continue to get paid through September without working, OPM has indicated.
Unions and a dozen attorneys general argue the offer isn’t guaranteed.
On a call Wednesday with agency leaders, OPM officials claimed the number of federal workers who have accepted the resignation offer is more than 40,000, according to a person familiar with the subject.
Another person confirmed the total was above 40,000 as of Wednesday afternoon.
The Trump administration is expecting numbers to drastically grow in the final day before the deadline, a White House official said.
When it presented the option last week, the White House said it expected between 5% and 10% of federal employees to accept, leading to nearly $100 billion in savings annually, without offering specifics on how the estimate was obtained.
Officials haven’t turned the 10% range into a concrete target for the number of staff it thinks will resign.
There are around two million Americans working for the federal government in civilian jobs, while some positions are exempted from the offer.
Widespread doubt about whether the buyout will operate as promoted has stopped employees from taking it.
The Trump administration is cutting the government workforce through executive measures and by eliminating agencies. Nearly all U.S. Agency for International Development staff will be placed on paid administrative leave starting Saturday morning.
Last week, dozens of workers in the Education Department were put on administrative leave. Additionally, other workers who were thought to be involved with diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility have been let go.
According to OPM, the buyout offer carries the risk that employees who choose to remain in their positions may eventually be singled out for layoffs.
Signs of mounting pressure to fire government employees have unsettled staff. According to an individual with knowledge of the situation, officials talked about requiring agencies to provide lists of probationary employees who have worked for less than a year or two years for “excepted service” on the OPM call on Wednesday.
For example, there are significant numbers of such employees in the TSA and Peace Corps. Some government employees are storing their job records in “virtual go bags” because of concern that they may not be able to access them in the future.
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