The Agriculture Department is offering employees another chance to quit, according to emails sent late Monday.
USDA’s “second and final Deferred Resignation Program,” set to begin Tuesday and run through April 8, is intended to “mirror” the first and offer “all pay and benefits” through Sept. 30, according to the email viewed by POLITICO. The offer is available to permanent employees as well as employees in probationary or trial periods, and those who accept “will be provided with a dignified, fair departure,” USDA said in the email.
The Trump administration has fired thousands of federal employees across agencies including USDA as part of its effort to dramatically shrink the government. Administration officials have strongly encouraged employees to quit, arguing that a slimmer workforce will be more efficient. The strategy has left federal workers scrambling, some losing access to health care, and jeopardized federal work including wildfire mitigation and bird flu response.
The unsigned Monday emails came as thousands of probationary USDA employees remain in limbo after a federal court ruled that their initial firings were illegal. The employees have been reinstated, but it’s not clear they won’t still be targeted by forthcoming layoffs.
