{"id":2396636,"date":"2025-01-29T15:41:02","date_gmt":"2025-01-29T20:41:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-and-unions-challenge-trumps-very-generous-federal-employee-resignation-offer-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2025-01-29T15:42:44","modified_gmt":"2025-01-29T20:42:44","slug":"democrats-and-unions-challenge-trumps-very-generous-federal-employee-resignation-offer-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-and-unions-challenge-trumps-very-generous-federal-employee-resignation-offer-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Democrats and unions challenge Trump\u2019s \u2018very generous\u2019 federal employee resignation offer &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdemocrats-and-unions-challenge-trumps-very-generous-federal-employee-resignation-offer-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2396636&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Democrats and labor unions are urging federal employees to reject President Donald Trump&#8217;s offer \u200dof financial incentives for resigning from their positions, \u2063labeling \u200cit untrustworthy and perhaps deceptive. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) warned employees on the Senate floor that accepting the \u2064offer might\u2062 lead to disappointment, claiming Trump&#8217;s past behavior has led to similar results for many\u2062 people. Trump&#8217;s administration anticipates that 5% to 10% \u2064of federal employees might take the \u2063offer, which provides full pay\u2063 through September 30 for those who resign by the deadline. <\/p>\n<p>Kaine described the proposal \u2062as a &#8220;sweetheart deal&#8221; \u200dbut insisted that such \u200can offer \u200bshould have\u200c congressional approval. He noted that the offer&#8217;s\u200b written format\u2063 could be used\u200d in\u200b legal challenges, pointing\u200c out that the Trump administration&#8217;s objective seems to be to force federal workers back to\u2062 in-person \u200boffice duties. <\/p>\n<p>Unions,like the \u200dAmerican Federation of Government Employees,are also cautioning \u200dmembers against viewing the offer as voluntary,citing a pattern of anti-worker policies \u2062from the administration.The \u2064Trump \u2064administration argues that federal employees should uphold higher performance standards, \u200despecially as a meaningful portion \u200bcurrently does not report to office. This initiative is\u200c part of \u200ca broader agenda to enhance governmental efficiency, reportedly\u2064 aiming to\u200d save taxpayers $100 billion annually. The final stipulations for employees wishing to remain include adhering to increased performance\u200b standards and a return to office work.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Democrats and unions challenge Trump&rsquo;s &lsquo;very generous&rsquo; federal employee resignation offer<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1960560\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Democrats are telling federal employees not to accept President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Donald Trump\">Donald Trump<\/a>&lsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3303578\/trump-offering-buyouts-all-federal-workers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"buyout offer\">incentive offer<\/a> to resign, saying it &mdash;&nbsp;and he &mdash;&nbsp;are dubious and untrustworthy.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t be fooled,&rdquo; Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) said Tuesday on the Senate floor. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s tricked hundreds of people with that offer. If you accept that offer and resign, he&rsquo;ll stiff you just like he stiffed the contractors. He doesn&rsquo;t have any authority to do this.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-media-max-width=\"560\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Tim Kaine tells federal employees to ignore Trump&rsquo;s offer to quit w\/ pay for months. &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t be fooled. He&rsquo;s tricked hundreds of people w\/ that offer. If you accept that offer &amp; resign he&rsquo;ll stiff you just like he stiffed the contractors. He doesn&rsquo;t have any authority to do this.&rdquo; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/iQI3a8grRG\">pic.twitter.com\/iQI3a8grRG<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/sahilkapur\/status\/1884415569069494370?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 29, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>    <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;You were here before he was here, and you&rsquo;ll be here after he was here,&rdquo; said Kaine, who was running mate to Hillary Clinton during her failed 2016 presidential run against Trump. <\/p>\n<p>Trump&rsquo;s press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters she expects between 5% and 10% of federal employees to accept the offer, which includes full pay through Sept. 30 for any employees who agree to resign by next Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;If [federal employees] don&rsquo;t want to work in the office and contribute to making America great again, then they are free to choose a different line of work,&rdquo; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3303880\/karoline-leavitt-federal-incentive-offer-not-about-purging-workforce\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Leavitt said\">Leavitt said<\/a>, &ldquo;and the Trump Administration will provide a very generous payout of eight months.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Kaine himself described the offer as a &ldquo;sweetheart offer&rdquo; even while advising federal employees against it. The offer was presented in writing, which would be evidence in any court challenge, but Kaine had argued Trump needed congressional sign-off to make the offer.<\/p>\n<p>The move is tied to Trump&rsquo;s call to bring federal workers back to the office, offering them a choice either to accept a deferred resignation and be placed on paid administrative leave or, in most cases, return to working in person five days a week.<\/p>\n<p>Along with elected Democrats, federal employee unions are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/desantis-administration-fighting-against-transgender-surgery-for-minors\/\" title=\"DeSantis Administration Fighting Against Transgender Surgery For Minors\">fighting back hard<\/a> against the offer. <\/p>\n<p>The American Federation of Government Employees says it&rsquo;s analyzing the situation but warned that &ldquo;there&rsquo;s not yet any evidence the administration can or will uphold its end of the bargain.&rdquo; It is encouraging members to get more information before making a decision.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This offer should not be viewed as voluntary,&rdquo; AFGE president Everett Kelley said. &ldquo;Between the flurry of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-offering-buyouts-to-nearly-all-federal-workers-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Trump offering buyouts to nearly all federal workers - Washington Examiner\">anti-worker executive orders<\/a> and policies, it is clear that the Trump administration&rsquo;s goal is to turn the federal government into a toxic environment where workers cannot stay even if they want to.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Trump officials hold that taxpayers pay for the salaries of federal government employees and that the workforce must therefore be held to a higher standard. Leavitt claimed that just 6% of federal employees are checking in at their offices, which are also paid for by taxpayers, and that performance standards must be raised.<\/p>\n<p>The Trump White House says that <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">moving government workers back<\/a> to physical offices and related streamlining efforts can save taxpayers $100 billion annually. <\/p>\n<p>Trump&rsquo;s move carries a strong imprint of Elon Musk, the billionaire backer now heading Trump&rsquo;s newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. <\/p>\n<p>The subject line of the email sent to employees says &ldquo;Fork in the Road,&rdquo; the name of a piece of art Musk commissioned that sits at Tesla&rsquo;s Texas headquarters. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Two years ago, I commissioned an art piece: A Fork in the Road. <\/p>\n<p>Had to make sure that civilization took the path most likely to pass the Fermi Great Filters. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/mYFzdAy6WF\">pic.twitter.com\/mYFzdAy6WF<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/elonmusk\/status\/1865457111783637448?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 7, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The emails provide an easy way for employees to leave their jobs. The first step is to type &ldquo;resign&rdquo; into the body of the reply email. The second step? Hit &ldquo;send.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DOGE\/status\/1884600568863162708\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"DOGE\">DOGE<\/a>, there are few strings on the offer, and employees who are let go can &ldquo;take the vacation you always wanted,&rdquo; &ldquo;just watch movies and chill,&rdquo; or accept a second job and collect two salaries for most of this year.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Those who elect to stay are expected to adhere to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.opm.gov\/fork\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"four pillars\">four pillars<\/a> as a condition of their employment. Those four pillars include returning to the office, reaching &ldquo;excellence at every level,&rdquo; a reclassification to at-will status for many government workers, and being a &ldquo;reliable, loyal, trustworthy&rdquo; workforce.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Employees will be subject to enhanced standards of suitability and conduct as we move forward,&rdquo; the email reads. &ldquo;Employees who engage in unlawful behavior or other misconduct will be prioritized for appropriate investigation and discipline, including termination.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1960560\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1960560\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Democrats and unions oppose Trump&#8217;s federal employee resignation offer, calling it untrustworthy. Sen. Tim Kaine warns employees not to be deceived, stating many have been misled by the proposal<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2635,"featured_media":2396637,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Tim-Kaine.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[3685,49424,49440,3634,5038],"class_list":["post-2396636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-democrats","tag-federal-employees","tag-resignation-offer","tag-trump","tag-unions"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Tim-Kaine.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2396636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2635"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2396636"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2396636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2396640,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2396636\/revisions\/2396640"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2396637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2396636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2396636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2396636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}