Federal Workers Angered By Trump Administration’s Latest Move To Force Them Out

Federal workers have been offered buyouts – with severance pay until September 30 to leave their jobs by next week – in President Trump’s ongoing power grab and unapologetic campaign to reshape the government without any or very little regard for what is legal or conventional.

“The number of civil servants hasn’t meaningfully changed since 1970, but there are more Americans than ever who rely on government services,” said Everett Kelley, the president of the American Federation of Government Employees. “Purging the federal government of dedicated career civil servants will have vast, unintended consequences that will cause chaos for the Americans who depend on a functioning federal government.”  

On social media, the pushback was loud and immediate, ranging from posted comments that read, “The dictatorship has started,” to “Considering he’s forcing new applicants to undergo Trump loyalty tests, this is just efforts to fill each level of government with his fascist cronies.” 

The buyout comes amid Trump’s executive order requiring federal employees to return to the office, effectively ending the work-from-home option offered during the COVID-19 pandemic.

AFGE officials point to the Trump administration’s buyout proposal as a plan to “turn the federal government into a toxic environment where workers cannot stay even if they want to.”

Senator Tim Kaine (D. VA) called Trump’s offer a “scam,” because the buyout is not allowed.

Kaine explained, “There’s no budget line item to pay people who are not showing up for work. My message to federal employees who received this is, ‘Yeah, the president has tried to terrorize you for about a week, and then gives you a little sweetheart officer if you resign in the next week … Don’t be fooled! He’s tricked hundreds of people with that offer. If you accept that offer and resign, he’ll stiff you.’” 

As news of the administration’s memo spread, some workers posted their responses online.

One wrote, “I’ve never been more motivated to stay. Before the ‘buyout’ memo, I was ready to go job hunting, but then a revelation hit. I took an oath under this position to the American people and leaving my job under the current state would be failing to maintain my oath as a civil servant.”