President Donald Trump’s mass resignation offer has closed, but many in the federal workforce fear it is only the beginning of upheaval for agencies across the government.
On Wednesday night, the Trump administration shut down its “deferred resignation” program, which would put federal employees on paid leave until Sept. 30 if they decide to resign. Its original Feb. 6 deadline had been delayed under court order, but a federal judge has now tossed that challenge.
So should end what career staffers describe as a whiplash campaign of intimidation and cajoling for them to leave public service, where they received almost daily emails from their own bosses and a mysterious new address, hr@opm.gov.
“The Fork in the Road is Closed,” read the subject line of its latest message sent to employees last night, as seen by POLITICO’s E&E News. Its text continued, “Any resignations received after 7:20pmET, February 12, 2025, will not be accepted.”
One Department of the Interior employee said the last few weeks have been “confusing, chaotic and unhealthy” for government workers.
“Most people in government service really believe in our mission, and this is seen as undermining everything we have ever done, ignoring the need for any government,” said the source, who declined to take the deal. “This feels like a coup.”
E&E News heard from 14 federal employees who were granted anonymity to speak out of fear of reprisal from the Trump administration. Only one in that group decided to resign under the program.
A career worker at the Energy Department said they didn’t take the offer because they plan on quitting soon and didn’t want to make it easier for the Trump administration to dismantle government functions. The staffer also said they hope the final numbers of people who took the offer are “embarrassingly low.”
“I am worried about [reductions in force] at DOE — not really for me, because I’m planning on quitting soon anyway … but I think there are more legal options available during that process for staff than there were for the ‘Fork,’” said the staffer, referring to the deferred resignation offer’s subject line.
Approximately 75,000 federal employees accepted the resignation offer, Office of Personnel Management spokesperson McLaurine Pinover told E&E News. That doesn’t match the administration’s goal of 5 to 10 percent of the more than 2 million-strong federal workforce, which would have been over 100,000 to 200,000 staffers.
“I’m not so sure that we didn’t hit the numbers we wanted,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Thursday, according to a pool report. “That’s going to save millions of dollars for the American taxpayers, and that’s exactly what we wanted.”
The program’s impact on energy and environmental agencies is not yet known. OPM could not provide an agency-by-agency breakdown of how many employees took Trump’s offer.
The Interior Department and the Bureau of Land Management directed questions to the personnel office. Press officials at EPA and the Department of Energy didn’t respond to requests for comment for this story.
An EPA employee took Trump’s offer to resign because of its early retirement option. They are working Thursday but don’t know if it will be their last day at the agency.
“OPM hasn’t responded at all,” said the employee. “Am I even on their list? I sure hope so because I’m ready to be done.”
‘We will not stand idly by’
A federal judge in Massachusetts on Wednesday night allowed the Trump administration to impose a deadline on its offer — but did not weigh in on the legality of the program.
Instead, Judge George O’Toole, a Clinton appointee to the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, found that unions that had sued over the offer did not have standing to bring their case. The American Federation of Government Employees, one of the unions behind the lawsuit, said its fight isn’t over yet.
“We continue to maintain it is illegal to force American citizens who have dedicated their careers to public service to make a decision, in a few short days, without adequate information, about whether to uproot their families and leave their careers for what amounts to an unfunded IOU from Elon Musk,” said AFGE President Everett Kelley in a statement.
Just after the order from the Massachusetts District Court, another federal employee union launched a separate challenge in federal court in Washington against the Trump administration for the deferred resignation offer and other efforts to remove federal workers.
“The American people will suffer from the loss of the important government services these workers provide,” said National Treasury Employees Union President Doreen Greenwald in a statement accompanying the lawsuit. “We will not stand idly by while this administration takes illegal actions that will harm citizens, federal employees and the economy.”
The courts may be federal employees’ best option to battle the Trump administration.
“I also hope and assume there will be lawsuits that slow everything down,” the DOE staffer said. “But I have no doubt they will do whatever they can to get as many competent people out of government as quickly as possible.”
Another DOE career staffer said they didn’t take the offer because they love their job and find fulfillment in doing important work for Americans. The employee said they do fear layoffs but are trying to stay optimistic and won’t quit under pressure.
“If they are waiting for us to blink, I don’t think they understand that federal employees are no strangers to miserable conditions,” said the staffer. “They’ll need to either fire me or burn this building down to get me to leave.”
Another BLM employee, who works in a Western state office, did not take the offer but said the pressure is getting to people.
The staffer said they had to console a colleague Wednesday after they walked by the person’s closed office “and I heard her sobbing.” The staffer said their supervisor now “goes to each office/person almost daily to check on how we are doing.”
Another EPA employee said they didn’t take part in the deferred resignation program because they thought it was “a con.” They are also eligible to retire.
“I am terrified for those left behind,” said the agency staffer, referring to Trump’s other orders to freeze hiring, reorganize agencies and reclassify federal employees. “They are fucked.”
‘RIFs are in our future’
Musk and DOGE, the commission Trump created by executive order to boost government efficiency, were seen as the hidden hand behind the mass resignation push. He used the “Fork in the Road” subject line in an email to Twitter employees during his takeover of the social media company.
Now Musk has been given more power by Trump, who signed an executive order earlier this week for the tech mogul to lead a “workforce optimization initiative.”
Each agency is to have DOGE team leads whom they coordinate with on reducing staffing levels. That includes restricting hiring, attrition and “large-scale reductions in force” — otherwise known as layoffs.
In addition, under Trump’s order, agencies are to develop reorganization plans that show that they are “statutorily required” and discuss whether any of its components should be “eliminated or consolidated.”
Agencies have already begun laying off employees. Those who have probationary status, generally less than a year of federal service, have been fired at the Small Business Administration and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Meanwhile, EPA has placed 171 employees on administrative leave who were working on environmental justice and diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, programs, which Administrator Lee Zeldin heralded in a press release this week.
Cuts to spending and staffing are being celebrated on a new DOGE website too. “EPA also cancelled 3 DEI contracts, saving American taxpayers $45M,” the group said in a post on X, Musk’s social media platform.
A BLM employee who did not take the offer because they said they love their job and don’t want to leave said they now fear that could mean that orders for layoffs are coming.
“We are all feeling RIFs are in our future,” they said.
A third EPA employee also said they were expecting “a multi-phase RIF,” which will go deep into the agency. Those career staffers who survive the cuts have a grim future, they predicted.
“The remaining fraction will be eventually subjected to loyalty tests or replaced immediately,” said the agency staffer.
Contact reporter Kevin Bogardus on Signal at KevinBogardus.89
Reporter Pamela King contributed.
