Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, WHITE HOUSE NEWS—Trump administration announces plans for ‘reformed federal workforce,’ offers deferred resignation to employees, (Jan 29, 2025)

By Patricia K. Ruiz, J.D.

Workers must opt into the deferred resignation program by February 6, 2025, and will in most cases not be expected to work until the official resignation date of September 30, 2025.

In an email sent to federal employees by the Trump administration on January 28, 2025, the administration set forth four pillars around which a “reformed federal workforce” will be built. Based on the pillars described, the administration allowed workers to opt into a deferred resignation program, through which workers choosing to resign in most cases will not be expected to work prior to the official resignation date.

Four pillars. According to the email, the reformed federal workforce will be built around four pillars: (1) return to office, which will require the majority of federal employees who have been working remotely since the COVID-19 pandemic to return to their physical offices five days a week; (2) performance culture, which focuses on updated performance standards; (3) more streamlined and flexible workforce, which will require the downsizing of the majority of federal agencies through furloughs and the reclassification to at-will status for a substantial number of federal employees; and (4) enhanced standards of conduct, under which employees who engage in unlawful behavior or other misconduct will be prioritized for appropriate investigation and discipline, including termination.

Deferred resignation. Workers may choose to stay in their current positions, but the email stated that the administration cannot give full assurance regarding the certainty of workers’ current positions or agencies. For those who choose not to continue in their current roles in the federal workforce, the administration offered “a dignified, fair departure” from the government via its deferred resignation program. Workers who resign under the program will retain all pay and benefits regardless of daily workload and will be exempted from all applicable in-person work requirements until September 30, 2025, or earlier if workers choose to accelerate resignation for any reason. According to an accompanying FAQ, except in rare cases determined by workers’ agencies, workers opting to resign through the program will not be expected to work during the deferred resignation period.

Reaction. In response to the announcement of the deferred resignation program, U.S. Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-VA), ranking member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said, “Donald Trump is trying every trick he and his Project 2025 cronies can think of to circumvent established civil service protections so they can purge the civil service of experts and replace them with political loyalists. The victims here, as is always the case with Donald Trump, are the American people who will see government services and benefits allocated not by nonpartisan civil servants, but by partisan hacks.”

News: WhiteHouseNews PublicEmployees AgencyNews