Trump offers federal workers buyout with 8 months’ pay
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump is offering buyouts worth eight months’ salary to all federal employees who opt to leave their jobs by Feb. 6, according to a memo from the Office of Personal Management.
The buyout is part of Trump’s unprecedented overhaul of the United States government.
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US President Donald Trump, watched by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, speaks to reporters while in flight on Air Force One en route Joint Base Andrews, on Jan. 27, 2025. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty I
The buyout
President Trump offers buyouts to all federal workers
President Donald Trump is offering buyouts worth seven months’ salary to all federal employees who opt to leave their jobs by Feb. 6, according to a memo from the Office of Personal Management. The buyout is part of Trump’s unprecedented overhaul of the United States government. Last week, Trump signed an executive order requiring federal employees to return to in-person work. The order comes after Trump indicated that he planned to push back on former President Joe Biden's move to allow federal workers to remain in a hybrid work arrangement through 2029.
Dig deeper:
In a list of four directives issued by Trump, one of the mandates includes that most workers must return to their offices full-time.
It also includes a "deferred resignation letter" for federal employees who want to participate in the buyout.
"If you choose not to continue in your current role in the federal workforce, we thank you for your service to your country and you will be provided with a dignified, fair departure from the federal government utilizing a deferred resignation program," the email reads. "This program begins effective January 28 and is available to all federal employees until February 6."
It adds, "If you resign under this program, you will retain all pay and benefits regardless of your daily workload and will be exempted from all applicable in-person work requirements until September 30."
Federal government overhaul
Trump administration puts pause on federal grants, loans
The White House is pausing federal grants and loans starting Tuesday as President Donald Trump's administration begins an across-the-board ideological review of its spending, causing confusion and panic among organizations that rely on Washington for their financial lifeline.
Earlier on Tuesday, Trump implemented a freeze on funding for federal grants and loans.
A federal judge temporarily blocked the freeze just minutes before it was set to go into effect.
The pause will stay until Monday.
Last week, Trump signed an executive order requiring federal employees to return to in-person work.
The order comes after Trump indicated that he planned to push back on former President Joe Biden's move to allow federal workers to remain in a hybrid work arrangement through 2029.
"Heads of all departments and agencies in the executive branch of Government shall, as soon as practicable, take all necessary steps to terminate remote work arrangements and require employees to return to work in-person at their respective duty stations on a full-time basis, provided that the department and agency heads shall make exemptions they deem necessary," the order reads.
Agencies must begin the move to fully in-person work by 5 p.m. on Friday, the order stated.
In addition to the return-to-work order, Trump also signed an order freezing the hiring of federal civilian employees, to be applied throughout the executive branch.
The order stated, "As part of this freeze, no Federal civilian position that is vacant at noon on January 20, 2025, may be filled, and no new position may be created except as otherwise provided for in this memorandum or other applicable law."
The freeze excludes military personnel and positions related to immigration enforcement, national security and public safety.
The Source: Information for this article was gathered from The Associated Press, FOX Business, and previous reporting from LiveNOW from FOX. This story was reported from Los Angeles.