Workers Face Deadline for Voluntary Resignation Offer Amid Federal Layoff Fears
Workers have until Thursday to decide whether to take an offer to resign now and be paid through the end of September.
The assistant commissioner of a division of the General Services Administration (GSA) told staff early this week that layoffs across the federal government are "likely" after the deferred resignation offer expires Thursday, according to an email obtained by The Washington Post. This is a significant move toward forcibly removing many of the 2.3 million civilian federal employees.
"Please know that I empathize with the tough decisions you each are having to make," wrote Erv Koehler, assistant commissioner of general supplies and services at GSA, in the email. "Please focus on making the best decision for you and your particular situation."
Koehler noted that GSA's Federal Acquisition Service "is being asked" to cut its program by 50 percent, reflecting agency management's goal to halve the size of its staff, according to two individuals familiar with internal conversations.
Reached by phone, Koehler declined to comment.
The email serves as a sign that administration officials fear few career civil servants will accept their offer to quit and continue being paid through September, a move central to President Donald Trump's vision for a smaller and more loyal federal workforce.
Encouraged by Elon Musk, who is now overseeing the Department of Government Efficiency from a White House office, the offer was disseminated last week with a deadline of this Thursday. Musk's allies are also now managing GSA, which oversees real estate and some procurement and information technology across the federal government.
Musk had shared a post last week on X, claiming that between 5 and 10 percent of workers eligible for the deferred resignation offer would take it. However, since the offer was released, Democratic lawmakers and unions representing career civil servants have urged employees to reject the deal, labeling it a scam.
On Tuesday, an Office of Personnel Management official said that an earlier report by Axios claiming about 20,000 people had accepted the offer was "not current." The official stated, "The number of deferred resignations is rapidly growing," but declined to provide an updated figure.
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