Washington – Thousands of miles Elon Musk’s The Office in the White House complex, a federal worker based in the northwest of the Pacific, wonders if they give up.
Musk, one of President Donald Trump More powerful advisorsHe has orchestrated a Unprecedented financial incentive So that people leave their government work, promising several months of payment in exchange for their resignation. The worker, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of compensation, wants to take money and move abroad.
But she is worried. What happens if the offer is too good to be true? What happens if this is really an undercover effort to make a list of unfair government employees?
Its situation is a microcosm of the uncertainty that extends through the federal government, which is the largest employer in the country. More than 2 million workers (analysts, nurses, scientists, counters, food inspectors and loan processors) face a deadline of 11:59 pm et on Thursday to decide if they should leave.
He Deferred resignation program is part of Trump’s plan for Redo the federal governmentweakening what the allies describe as the “deep state” that undermined the Republican president during his first term. Administration officials said they can save the taxpayer money by presenting employees “a valuable unique opportunity in life” to stop working while they still raise a payment check until September 30.
On Wednesday, the administration increased its pressure on employees to leave, sending a reminder that layoffs or permits could come next.
“It is likely that most federal agencies are reduced through current restructuring, realignments and reductions,” said the message of the Personnel Management Office, which has been a link of Musk’s efforts to reduce the government.
The email said that anyone who is “loyal” is expected and “will be subject to improved standards of suitability and behavior as we advance.” Some employees could also be reclassified to limit civil service protections.
“Employees who participate in illegal behavior or other misconduct will be prioritized for appropriate research and discipline, including termination,” said email.
Democrats said workers should not accept the deferred resignation program because it was not authorized by Congress, increasing the risk that they are not paid. The unions have sued to stop Trump’s plans, and a judge will consider whether he blocks the purchase offer at a hearing on Thursday afternoon in Boston.
“It’s a scam and not a purchase,” said Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government employees.
Kelley said he tells the workers that “if it were me, I wouldn’t.”
An employee of the Department of Education, who also spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said the administration seemed desperate to make people sign the agreement. However, she said that there were too many red flags, as a clause that renounced the right to sue if the government did not honor its side of the agreement.
Trump put Musk, the richest man in the world, in charge of the call Government Efficiency Departmentwhich is a scanning initiative to reduce the size and scope of the federal government. The original email offered by the Deferred Resignation program was titled “Fork in the Road”, echoing a similar message that Musk sent to Twitter employees two years after buying the social media platform.
Trump administration officials have organized questions of questions and answers with employees as the deadline is approaching.
Rachel Oglesby, chief of cabinet of the United States Department of Education, who previously worked at the America First Policy Institute, said Trump is trying to reduce the federal workforce.
“I know there have been many questions about whether it is real and if it is a trick,” he said, according to a recording obtained by Associated Press. “And it is exactly what it seems. It is one of the many tools that you are using to try to achieve the promise of the campaign to bring reforms to civil service and changes in DC “
The issue was also discussed during a meeting with the employees of the Department of Agriculture, according to another recording obtained by the AP. Marlon Taubenheim, a human resources officer, acknowledged that “these are very difficult times” and “there is a lot of stress.”
“Unfortunately, we don’t have all the answers,” he said.
Jacqueline Ponti-Lazaruk, another agency leader, said employees “probably did not have a time of time that could have wanted to make a decision that changes life.”
For those who remain, she said: “We will continue plugging.”
The guarantees of administration officials have not relieved concerns in a variety of agencies. Some federal workers said they did not trust the validity of the offers, doubting that Trump has the authority to disburse money. Others point to their Rigid Contractors Registry As New York Real Estate Magnate.
Dispersed protests have emerged outside federal buildings, even Tuesday at the staff management office.
“I risk being bold and trying to make more federal workers risk to speak,” said Dante O’Hara, who said he works for the government. “Because if we do not, then we” everything will lose our jobs and will put all these loyal or people who will be their shock troops. “
Government’s works have often been considered safe positions, but O’Hara said there is fear in the workforce. The meaning of his colleagues is “I don’t know if I’m going to be here because, as, we don’t know what will happen.”
Dan Smith, a Maryland resident whose father was a research scientist at the United States Department of Agriculture, said federal workers are “so little appreciated and are taken for granted.”
“It is one thing to reduce the size of the government. It is one thing to try to erase it, “said Smith.” And that is what is happening. And that is what is so scary and disgusting and requires a setback. “
Mary-Jean Burke, physiotherapist from the Department of Veterans Affairs in Indianapolis, told him that too many people leave, endangering medical care services.
Burke, who also serves as a union officer, said that doubts have also grown over whether to take the offer.
“Originally, I think people said: ‘I’m out of here,” he said. Cool, while receiving your salary and complete government benefits. “
The message failed because “that kind of thing sounded too well to be true and people doubted,” Burke said.
Anyway, he said, Trump has achieved his apparent objective of shaking the federal workforce.
“Every day, it’s something,” Burke said. “If he signed up to be a switch, he’s doing it.”
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Associated Press Nancy Benac writers, Nathan Ellgren, Gary Fields, Joshua Goodman and Brian Witte contributed to this report.
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