Here's the OPM guidance memo to department heads about this program: <a href="https://chcoc.gov/sites/default/files/OPM%20Guidance%20Memo%20re%20Deferred%20Resignation%20Program%201-28-2025.pdf" rel="nofollow">https://chcoc.gov/sites/default/files/OPM%20Guidance%20Memo%...</a><p>Key quote:<p>"Employees who accept deferred resignation should promptly have their duties re-assigned or eliminated and be placed on paid administrative leave until the end of the deferred resignation period (generally, September 30, 2025, unless the employee has elected another earlier resignation date), unless the agency head determines that it is necessary for the employee to be actively engaged in transitioning job duties, in which case employees should be placed on administrative leave as soon as those duties are transitioned."
Federal employees have statutory no-cause termination protection, and the President presumably can't simply reclassify the federal workforce as "at-will".
The thing that's interesting to me is how the Trump Republicans used tactics so effectively to accuse the Dems, "deep state", etc. of all this nefarious conduct, and then explicitly embraced that conduct as openly and vigorously as possible. E.g accuse career civil servants of being secretly partisan, and then explicitly kick out anyone who isn't loyal to Trump and demand Trump loyalty, countering ~150 years of American policy. Accuse Democrats of stealing an election, and then attempt to violently overturn the results of an election after essentially every claim of election malfeasance was laughed out of court.<p>Even how they painted Biden's pardons was pretty brilliant IMO. Trump had already pretty much telegraphed that he would pardon anyone who kissed up to him, and had been explicit about how he would use federal power to seek revenge. So while I was very much against Biden's pardon of his family, I'm sure Biden was probably like "F this shizz, it's not like holding the moral high ground is doing anyone any favors." But now, of course, anyone with Trump's blessing will get a pardon regardless of what they do, and they can point to Biden's pardons as "Dems did it first".<p>I think we are truly and surely fucked in the mid-long term - what we're going through looks pretty much exactly what all previous empires looked like when they fell into decline. It's just kind of stunning to watch with so much transparency.
> The federal workforce should be comprised of employees who are reliable, loyal, trustworthy, and who strive for excellence in their daily work. Employees will be subject to enhanced standards of suitability and conduct as we move forward.<p>Has there ever been a loyalty component to rank and file federal employment before? This seems to go against the meritocracy they claim to want.<p>If you do a great job, anything else shouldn't matter...
There is a huge difference between "creating lists for further use" and "offering buyouts". You sure those lists are only for offering buyouts, just because a notorious liar tells you so?<p>Discussion at reddit: <a href="https://old.reddit.com/r/fednews/comments/1ibbbh7/this_was_posted_about_opm_in_our_union_chat/" rel="nofollow">https://old.reddit.com/r/fednews/comments/1ibbbh7/this_was_p...</a>
Loyalty to whom? Your spouse? The country? Your immediate supervisor? Your coworkers?<p>It's the things that aren't said that make it feel so Orwellian.
So when they said they would run the government 'like a business' they actually meant a Private Equity hostile take-over informed by 1970 McKinsey consultants.<p>It's day 8. Good luck all.
Wow, I have morbid curiosity about how this will work out.<p>Democrats better hope that this crashes and burns, because if this shows any chance of being effective, we're in for a tough authoritarian ride.
Future America will understand that you don't treat government like a company.<p>The money government spends on salaries is money directly injected back into the economy, it could be seen as a form of social welfare.
Anyone else think it’s likely America ends up without being a meaningful democracy by the end of this? I am skeptical the stated goal is efficiency it’s loyalty to MAGA. Imagine how extreme they will get if you can never vote them out.