Over 40,000 Federal Employees Have Agreed to Buyout Offers

February 7, 2025 TruthUSA

On February 6, a federal judge extended the deadline for accepting the buyout offer to February 10.

WASHINGTON—To date, over 40,000 federal employees have taken up the Trump administration’s buyout offer, with expectations that the final count will surge even higher.

The initial deadline for this buyout offer was set for 11:59 p.m. EST on February 6, but a federal judge postponed it to February 10.

Late on February 5, unnamed officials from the White House informed The Wall Street Journal that 40,000 out of 2.3 million federal civil servants had accepted the buyout. However, another senior administration official revealed to The Epoch Times on the morning of February 6 that the current number is significantly higher.

“That 40,000 was as of yesterday,” the official remarked. “The count has increased, but we won’t disclose further numbers until after the deadline.”

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt later confirmed the statistic, asserting, “This will save American taxpayers tens of millions of dollars, and we encourage federal employees in this area to accept this very generous offer.”

Under the buyout, employees resigning will receive eight months’ worth of pay and benefits, extending through September 2025.

One of President Donald Trump’s first executive orders following his inauguration mandated that all federal employees cease working from home and return to their designated duty stations. This directive highlighted the reality that fewer than 10 percent of employees at major agency headquarters in Washington are working onsite.

Every federal agency must report to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on how many government employees are accepting the buyout offer. Consequently, the final total may not be available until after February 7, due to possible delays in OPM gathering the necessary information and the time required to process each retirement administratively.

The buyout program is a significant component of the Trump administration’s strategy to minimize the size and expense of the federal government. Trump enlisted billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, known for his ventures in space and electric vehicles, to lead this effort, officially termed the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.

Due to regulatory challenges, terminating government employees is far more complicated and expensive than doing so in the private sector. Currently, the average timeframe to dismiss an employee exceeds 18 months, with actual times potentially extending even longer.

If 10 percent of the civilian workforce accepts the buyout, it could lead to over $24 billion in savings. According to OPM statistics, the government’s turnover rate typically ranges from 6 percent to 8 percent annually.

This buyout allows federal employees who choose to accept it to receive full pay and benefits for eight months, exempting them from new mandates requiring daily workplace attendance, and safeguarding them from expected reduction-in-force actions in numerous federal departments and agencies.

A career employee at the Social Security Administration, who requested anonymity, shared with The Epoch Times on February 6 that while discussions about the buyout offer are happening among employees, he doesn’t anticipate a significant surge in acceptances.

“I believe the final percentage of acceptances will hover around 4 to 6 percent,” he said. “It’s unlikely to rise higher because a lot of unproductive workers remain in the government.”

There has been substantial opposition to the Trump administration’s buyout initiative, particularly from the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal union representing 800,000 members. Union officials have opposed the buyout since it was introduced on January 28 and continue to strongly urge civil servants to decline the offer.

“This offer should not be perceived as voluntary,” the union stated in a statement. “Given the barrage of anti-worker executive orders and policies, it is evident that the Trump administration aims to transform the federal government into a hostile environment where employees cannot remain even if they wish to.”

Similarly, officials from the Federal Managers Association (FMA), representing 200,000 managers, supervisors, and executives in the civil service, expressed immediate disapproval of the offer.

“We staunchly oppose this alarming and misguided program targeting nearly the entire federal workforce,” the FMA declared in a January 29 statement. “This is unprecedented, impulsive, and perilous.

“It jeopardizes national security, food safety, and threatens service quality for all American taxpayers from the IRS, SSA, and every agency providing essential services mandated by Congress.”

A spokesperson for the American Federation of Government Employees did not provide a comment, and the FMA also did not respond to a request for input.

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