Federal Workers Get Second ‘Fork in the Road’ Buyout Offer (2)

Federal workers at a number of agencies — including the Defense, Transportation, Agriculture and Energy departments — are getting a second chance to accept a buyout offer, the latest effort to downsize the US government spearheaded by Elon Musk.

The initiative bears many of the hallmarks of Musk’s “Fork in the Road” offer in January, which allowed federal workers to leave their jobs in February but continue being paid through September.

This time the offers are being made agency-by-agency as part of each department’s mandate to reduce the size of its workforce. Deadlines and rules for eligibility differ by department.

The US Department of Energy headquarters in Washington, DC.

Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg

“Exemptions should be rare,” said a memo by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. “My intent is to maximize participation so that we can minimize the number of involuntary actions that may be required to achieve the strategic objectives.”

The Transportation Department gave workers through April 7 to accept their deal, which it said was “strictly voluntary,” according to messages sent Tuesday and viewed by Bloomberg News. It said employees who take the offer will receive pay and benefits through Sept. 30 and be excluded from other reductions-in-force or forms of “involuntary separation.”

Energy Department employees received a similar notice, but were granted one day more — through April 8 — to resign from their posts. The Department of Housing and Urban Development said their workers have through April 11 to sign up.

The General Services Administration told its workers that “there are no excluded positions at GSA, and employees are still eligible” even if they are on existing reduction-in-force lists. The agency said employees have through April 18 to indicate if they will take the offer.

The offers amount to a second chance for federal workers to voluntarily leave their jobs after an initial round of the resignation program fell short of the Trump administration’s ambitions.

About 75,000 workers took the first buyout offer, about 3% of the federal workforce. The White House had said the goal was to cut 5% to 10% of civilian employees.

Since that initial program ended, agencies have announced multiple waves of layoffs and firings, resulting in tens of thousands of job cuts.

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Those terminations have been done in coordination with Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency and drawn numerous lawsuits that are working their way through the courts.

The Transportation Department’s latest offer exempts certain categories of “essential” employees, including air traffic controllers, cybersecurity specialists, as well as aviation and railway safety inspectors.

(Updates with Defense and Agriculture department policies and additional details throughout)

--With assistance from Ari Natter.

To contact the reporters on this story:
Allyson Versprille in Washington at aversprille1@bloomberg.net;
Dana Hull in San Francisco at dhull12@bloomberg.net;
Gregory Korte in Washington at gkorte@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Laura Davison at ldavison4@bloomberg.net

Meghashyam Mali

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