Congressional Democrats are sounding the alarm on the supposed “buyout” offered to federal employees, calling out the offer as a "scam” aimed at undermining the civil service.
On Jan. 28, federal employees received an email from the Office of Personnel Management under the subject line, “Fork in the Road,” offering to pay them through Sept. 30 if they submit their resignation by Feb. 6.
Democrats on the House Oversight Committee, however, have flagged the offer as an “illegal scam,” arguing that it's part of an effort that would "decimate our civil service and cause immeasurable harm to the American public.”
“We demand that you immediately rescind this offer,” Democrats wrote in a Feb. 3 letter to President Donald Trump. “Federal employees are right to be skeptical of the resignation offer. The Administration does not appear to be acting pursuant to any buyout or severance authority outlined in Title V of U.S. Code. The offer provides no legally binding or formal guarantees, the guidance that it gives employees is likely illegal, and the entire offer could be found to violate the Anti-Deficiency Act.”
Congressional Democrats on the Oversight Committee, where Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., serves as the ranking member, wrote that the offer “would precipitate a mass exodus of the most experienced and capable federal employees, leaving our agencies severely understaffed and incapable of fulfilling their responsibilities.”
They highlighted the Federal Aviation Administration’s current under-staffing crisis as an example of a problem that would only get worse due to the offer, noting that it would precipitate a shedding of “expertise and institutional knowledge” from government agencies.
The letter goes on on to demand all related communications between the Office of Personnel Management, the Executive Office of the President and the Office of Management and Budget, as well as myriad communications between “non-governmental entities” and key players in Trump’s war on the civil service, including Trump’s pick for OMB director, Russ Vought, and billionaire Elon Musk.
