President Donald Trump's new tool for reshaping the federal government is a relatively obscure agency, the Office of Personnel Management.
The agency has offered millions of federal workers eight months of salary if they voluntarily choose to leave their jobs by Feb. 6. The unconventional plan shows both Trump's desire to bring the bureaucracy under control and the downsizing tendencies of Elon Musk, the multibillionaire Trump supporter who is leading the president's Department of Government Efficiency.
A closer look at OPM:
What is the OPM?
Created in 1979 under President Jimmy Carter, the OPM is the equivalent of the government's human resources department. It helps manage the civil service, including pay schedules, health insurance and pension programs. The U.S. Office of Government Ethics was spun off from OPM in 1989.
As the OPM website notes, the agency’s roots go back to 1883 with the Civil Service Act. That law established merit-based hiring for many government workers, replacing a system that was previously prone to political patronage. Trump has argued that the bureaucracy in its current formation is not responsive enough to his agenda, leading him to want to install federal officials who will implement his plans as instructed.
What does the OPM offer to employees say?
Slugged “Fork in the Road,” the OPM email is officially a “deferred resignation offer.” Federal workers outside the military, immigration enforcement, national security and the U.S. Postal Service received the email. Those who accept will receive their pay and benefits through the end of September without having to work. Federal employees can accept the offer by typing “Resign” in the subject line of the response.
The email also hinted that future job cuts are a possibility.
“(W)e cannot give you full assurance regarding the certainty of your position or agency but should your position be eliminated you will be treated with dignity and will be afforded the protections in place for such positions,” the email said.
People who accept the offer can still apply for federal positions in the future, OPM said in a follow-up response to the email.
How involved is Musk?
That “fork in the road” language might look familiar to former employees of Twitter, the social media company owned by Musk, now called X.
Musk sent the employees an email titled “A Fork in the Road” after he acquired the company and had already laid off half of the staff. That email was briefer, gave a one-day deadline to decide, and offered three months of severance.
The owner of Tesla and SpaceX, among other companies, tipped his hand by posting on X that the OPM offer provided the most benefits “legally allowed without Congress passing another appropriations bill.” He also posted that workers who accept the package can take a new job, something the OPM’s own breakdown of questions did not address.
“It really is a fair & generous deal,” Musk posted.
It’s not just OPM
Trump is using all kinds of federal agencies to rework the bureaucracy, not just OPM.
The White House Office of Management and Budget issued a memo on Monday requiring federal agencies to pause loans and grants, creating turmoil and lawsuits as to the directive’s legality and scope. That order was rescinded Wednesday after it sparked widespread confusion.
Trump has ordered the General Services Administration to make sure it promotes “beautiful federal civic architecture” as the president dislikes styles that are less traditional.
He also gave an order changing the name of the U.S. Digital Service — which handles tech issues — to the Department of Government Efficiency, Trump’s cost-cutting initiative known as DOGE.
