In a bid to reshape the federal government, the Trump administration has announced a sweeping voluntary buyout scheme, offering severance packages to employees willing to resign by next week.
The unprecedented move, outlined in a memo from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), signals a rapid push to downsize the government while introducing stringent new standards of "suitability and conduct" for remaining staff, reports the Associated Press (AP).
Federal employees opting for the buyout will receive approximately seven months' salary, but they must confirm their decision by 6 February.
The memo ominously hints at further reductions in the workforce, fuelling concerns that this initiative is a prelude to a widespread purge of government personnel.
Trump, who built his political identity on disrupting Washington’s status quo, has promised that his second administration will be even more transformative than his first.
However, the consequences of a large-scale federal downsizing remain uncertain, with experts warning of potentially severe disruptions to public services and economic stability.
With over three million people employed by the federal government—making it the nation’s 15th largest workforce—the ripple effects of mass resignations could be profound.
A Pew Research Center analysis indicates that the average federal employee has nearly 12 years of tenure, meaning a sudden exodus could lead to a substantial loss of institutional expertise.
Potential Disruptions Across Key Sectors
The buyout initiative could have far-reaching consequences, affecting frontline healthcare workers at the Veterans Affairs Department, officials handling homebuyer and small business loans, and procurement specialists responsible for military defence contracts.
It also raises concerns over the loss of experienced food inspectors, environmental scientists, and consumer safety officials, potentially undermining critical public health and safety measures.
Everett Kelley, President of the American Federation of Government Employees, has condemned the move, arguing that it amounts to a political purge rather than a voluntary resignation programme.
“Purging the federal government of dedicated career employees will have vast, unintended consequences that will cause chaos for the Americans who depend on a functioning federal government,” he said, warning that the administration’s broader agenda appears designed to create a toxic work environment for public sector employees.
A Push for Greater Control and Loyalty
The memo from OPM outlines four key directives set by Trump for federal employees.
Among these is a mandate requiring most remote workers to return to office-based roles full-time, reversing the flexibility introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Echoing the president’s recent remarks, the memo asserts, “You have to go to your office and work. Otherwise, you’re not going to have a job.”
Further, the administration has introduced new loyalty and performance criteria, stating that federal workers must be “reliable, loyal, trustworthy, and strive for excellence in their daily work.”
Employees will be subject to stricter scrutiny, with those found guilty of misconduct facing prioritised investigation and potential termination.
To facilitate resignations, the administration has included a "deferred resignation letter" in the email sent to employees, allowing them to resign while retaining full pay and benefits until 30 September.
The process is startlingly straightforward—employees need only reply to the email with the single word "Resign" to confirm their departure.
Reviving Schedule F: A Political Reclassification of Federal Jobs
Trump’s latest executive orders also revive a version of Schedule F, a controversial reclassification effort originally introduced at the end of his first term.
The new iteration, termed “Schedule Career/Policy,” seeks to strip thousands of federal employees of job protections, effectively making them political appointees who can be replaced at will.
President Joe Biden had swiftly rescinded the original Schedule F order upon taking office in 2021, later implementing regulations to protect federal workers from politically motivated dismissals.
However, the Trump administration has now dismantled those safeguards, with Monday’s OPM memo confirming that Biden-era worker protections have been “directly nullified” under Trump’s executive authority.
Agency heads have been instructed to begin reclassifying personnel immediately, with deadlines set for interim recommendations within the next 90 days.
Observers see this as a key step in executing Project 2025, a conservative policy blueprint aimed at remodelling the federal government by reducing bureaucracy and installing ideologically aligned personnel.
As Trump’s second term unfolds, his administration’s aggressive push to reshape the federal workforce underscores a broader vision of governance—one that prioritises ideological loyalty and centralised control over the stability of public services.
The true impact of this unprecedented purge remains to be seen, but early indications suggest that the American public may soon feel the consequences of a government operating with significantly fewer hands.
