Layoffs of federal workers will likely follow if too few employees accept the White House's buyout offer, according to a memo obtained by The Washington Post, as President Donald Trump's administration pushes to reduce the federal workforce.
Federal employees face mounting pressure to decide whether to accept the recent buyout offer from the Trump administration as the deadline nears, with officials warning that layoffs could follow if not enough workers resign voluntarily.
Last week, the White House extended an offer to approximately 2 million full-time civilian federal employees. If they agree to resign, they can remain on the payroll through Sept. 30 without working.
The deadline for the offer expires on Thursday.
A White House official said Tuesday that at least 20,000 employees had accepted the buyout, representing roughly 1% of the federal workforce, according to The Hill. This is far below the administration's 5% to 10% goal. However, officials believe more workers will sign up in the final hours before the deadline.
The initiative is led by billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, who oversees the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and has pushed to overhaul the federal bureaucracy.
Employees who stay in government service have been instructed to return to in-person work, meet new performance expectations, and demonstrate reliability and loyalty. The message also warned that widespread restructuring, realignments, and reductions in force are expected across most federal agencies.
Layoffs appear inevitable if too few employees take the buyout, Erv Koehler, assistant commissioner of general supplies and services at the General Services Administration, said in an email to agency staff, as reported by The Washington Post.
The administration's offer, sent under the subject line "Fork in the Road," mirrors a similar ultimatum Musk issued to Twitter employees in 2022 after acquiring the social media company and renaming it X.
The offer initially caused confusion, as the first email did not clarify that employees accepting the buyout would not be required to work during the deferred resignation period.
A follow-up email titled "Fork in the Road FAQs" clarified that workers who take the buyout can accept other jobs while receiving pay through September.
Democratic lawmakers have urged federal employees to reject the offer, arguing that Trump's administration cannot be trusted.
Meanwhile, Musk and his aides have moved quickly to gain control of federal departments and have reportedly accessed Treasury Department human resources systems, which contain personal data on millions of federal employees. Reuters reported that career civil servants have been locked out of these systems.
As the Thursday deadline approaches, uncertainty looms over how many workers will ultimately accept the buyout and what that will mean for the future of the federal workforce.