Federal workers respond to Trump’s payout offerings

• The White House told federal workers that they could volunteer before February 6 and be paid through September.
• The offer follows the Trump administration’s efforts to review the federal workforce.
• Many workers that BI talked to were defiantly, but some go ahead or take a wait-and-see approach.

Shock and indignation. Hopelessness, suspicion and despite.

Federal workers say they feel a mixture of all the above and more after the payment offers the country in their inboxes late Tuesday. The Trump administration says workers can either return to the office full-time and face probably degradation or end now and continue to get paid for the next eight months.

“I voted for Donald Trump twice, and on January 20, I had hope that he would fulfill his promises,” a federal employee told Business Insider. “When I received this E email at 17.35 est, this hope disappeared.”

An employee of the Social Security Administration said workers are not the only ones at risk. “The public will suffer the most, and the only group they can blame is the current one.”

Or as a 15-year-old veteran from the state department put it: “They can fuck off and we’re not being intimidated.”

Business Insider spoke with more than a dozen workers in departments across the government in the hours after the E email was sent. They requested anonymity to talk openly about their jobs. Their identities are known by bee.

Some dig in their heels.

“I don’t intend to quit,” an employee wrote in a text message.

According to a “exposed severance offer” e email sent by an office in the White House, the workers have until February 6 to say whether they will voluntarily resign.

If they decide to leave, they will be exempt from personal work according to the email and will receive wages and benefits through September unless they decide to leave earlier.

“I certainly don’t want to accept a buyout,” another employee said, adding that their teammates probably wouldn’t. “It’s unpatriotic that he is trying to put people out of work or give incentives for people to leave their stable jobs.”

“I’m so tired of these stupid harassing e emails,” they added.

Defense of distrust

Others worry that the administration does not stick to its word about stable salary and take advantage of September – and are not even sure that the offer is actually a buyout, despite the language used in some media coverage.

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“It is sufficient to say that the people I have talked to do not trust how this will play out,” said a Department of Justice Ministry, adding that they did not see a budget or legal mechanism that would guarantee Continued compensation.

Spotlight has called on at least one federal to look at the private sector.

“I want to seek employment outside the government,” the worker said, though they warned that they might also look for a job in the Department of Defense or Department of Homeland Security. “I have no desire to work for a non -worthy organization.”

Administrative officials previously told CBS They believe that up to 10% of federal workers would deviate because of the new directives.

Meanwhile, another is in waiting-and-see mode. Trump’s second period has only just started, the employee told BI, and they want to give the administration the benefit of the doubt.

A break from historically precedent

The government has previously offered incentives for employees to leave as an attempt to trim the federal workforce. In the 1990s, Former President Clinton presented tens of thousands of workers with the opportunity to leave their jobs.

A lawyer who works for the federal government questioned why it did not follow the precedent set by previous administrations.

“In the federal government, reductions in effect are covered by a litany of laws and regulations,” said the lawyer, who specializes in employment issues. “Workers receive severance pay, career transition or job search and preference for other positions in the federal government. This blurred threat of being dismissed – it is illegal, irresponsible and wrong.”

American Federation of Government -Employees, the largest union for federal workers, on Wednesday announced an FAQ that asked members not to take the e email “to face value.” It was “filled with discrepancies and uncertainties,” the union said, and it was unclear whether the office that issued the memo had the legal authority or budget to give good for its promises.

National Treasury Employee Society President Doreen Greenwald urged federal workers to reject “the request to voluntarily quit their job. It is a bad deal for employees and the American people they serve.”

The latest in a series of chaotic traits

Tuesday email-there carries the same “fork in the road” subject line as an Elon Musk-Memo sent to the employees of X, then Twitter, in 2022-is the latest in a series of chaos-causing directives with great influence .

On Monday, the Trump administration announced that it put a “temporary break” on federal grants and loans. A federal judge stopped the freezer from entering into force before the administration himself canceled the note, Bi reported.

“It’s a bit like Whac-A-Mole. What are you answering?

Federal workers have been a special focus for the administration. Trump issued a return of work for all federal staff on January 20 and has also made an executive order to reclassified Certain officials, removing legal protection and making it easier to shoot them.

According to A frequently asked question Sent Tuesday, several categories of employees are not eligible for postponed resignation, including military staff, USPS staff and those working in immigration enforcement and national security roles.

The remaining federal workers have six working days to weigh their opportunities. If the original offer had been more generous, the federal government attorney said they may have taken it.

“If they offered me a guaranteed check for seven months that I could go to the bank, I could consider it,” they said. “But it is difficult to rely on promises that are not legally binding.”