FIGHTBACK FRIDAY
'Fired Up to Make These Goons as Frustrated as Possible': Federal Workers Find Fighting Spirit
"This is mental warfare. Don't quit. Hold the line," wrote one user on an online forum for federal employees and contractors, amid the Trump administration's repeated attacks on government workers.
Eloise Goldsmith
Jan 30, 2025
COMMON DREAMS
Following a Tuesday memo sent from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management offering most of the federal workforce the option to resign or remain in their positions but without "full assurance regarding the certainty of [a worker's] position or agency," federal employees are taking to the social media platform Reddit to find solidarity and urge each other to stick it out.
"This non 'buyout' really seems to have backfired," wrote one user on subreddit for government workers and contractors, r/fednews.
"I'll be honest, before that email went out, I was looking for any way to get out of this fresh hell. But now I am fired up to make these goons as frustrated as possible, [President Donald Trump's return to in-person work directive] be damned. Hold the line!" the user wrote.
Common Dreams has included quotes from Reddit users who indicate they are federal employees, but did not independently verify their employment with the federal government.
Some media reports have called the OPM offer a "buyout," though the union the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and other observers have said it is merely an offer to resign, effective in September, with the ability to telework between now and September.
Federal employees have until February 6 to accept the offer, according to the email.
"The program is not buyout nor is it a Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment ('VISP') program. Instead, it purports to offer employees the ability to submit a deferred resignation and claims employees that do so will continue to receive pay, while still possibly working, until September 30, 2025," according to a fact sheet from AFGE.
AFGE and at least one other union representing federal employees have urged their members not to resign by responding to OPM's email.
Meanwhile, the OPM email has also sparked federal worker pride on Reddit.
A self-described "blue collar fed" wrote on Wednesday that the memo demonstrated that the current administration fundamentally misunderstands "the kind of person who works for the federal government."
"If we were able to be bought with empty promises and dubious buyouts, we'd be in the private sector, making 25% more money than we do here," the user wrote. "We swore an oath to the Constitution and the people of these United States of America. We're here because we know that not everyone can do the jobs we do, and we know that what we do is important."
A Thursday post from a user expressing low morale in the face of the Trump administration's moves targeting federal workers and worrying that they could be fired, was met with encouragement and calls to remain strong. "This is mental warfare. Don't quit. Hold the line," a user wrote in response.
Multiple nonfederal workers said they were heartened by the solidarity and fighting spirit exhibited on r/fednews.
President of the group Run for Something, Amanda Litman, posted on X that one of the threads had her "in [her] feelings."
Unions representing federal employees are also fighting back against Trump administration actions focused on civil servants. Three unions have filed two separate lawsuits challenging Trump's "Schedule F" executive order, a measure aimed at removing job protections for many career federal employees.
Robert Reich has a special message for federal workers
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REUTERS/Carlos Barria TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Supporters react as Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally in Novi, Michigan, U.S. October 26, 2024.
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REUTERS/Carlos Barria TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Supporters react as Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally in Novi, Michigan, U.S. October 26, 2024.
January 30, 2025
ALTERNET
I’m addressing this post to America’s 2.3 million federal employees.
My message: Don’t accept Elon’s offer.
Yesterday, Musk — via people he’s planted in the Office of Personnel Management — sent an email to all 2.3 million of you, offering to pay you for eight months of work, through September 30, if you’ll resign from the government before February 6. Otherwise, you risk being furloughed (that is, not paid) or fired.
You know what this is about. Not slimming the federal workforce, but substituting Trump loyalists for people like you, who are working for the American public.
Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff for policy, said it out loud Tuesday on CNN: "The 2 million employees in the federal government are overwhelmingly left of center.” And now that Trump is elected, "it is essential for him to get control of government.”
But the fact is, neither Musk nor even Trump has legal authority to offer you eight months of pay if you’ll resign by February 6.
Your salaries are funded by the federal agencies and departments you work for, not by the Office of Personnel Management, not by Musk, and not by Trump.
None of them is authorized by Congress to move money from one agency or department to another without Congress’s approval. I know. I used to be a cabinet secretary.
Besides, the funding for your agency or department is guaranteed only through March 14, when the government is expected to shut down unless the debt ceiling is lifted. If not, any commitment for additional pay is worthless.
In fact, Musk (and Trump) are violating the law by agreeing to spend money that the administration doesn’t have. Congress could declare the entire offer illegal — which it is. Then where would you be?
May I also add that you shouldn’t trust Trump or Musk.
Trump has a long history of stiffing workers and contractors.
So, for that matter, does Musk. During the pandemic, Musk gave Tesla employees permission to remain at home if they didn’t feel comfortable reporting to the factory. Then he sent them termination notices alleging “failure to return to work.”
When he bought Twitter in 2022, Musk denied he wanted to lay off 75 percent of its staff (“No way I’m laying off 75 percent of them”) but then fired 80 percent of them (maybe that’s what he meant when he pledged not to fire 75 percent?)
In short, it’s a bum offer. Reject it.
By the way, thank you for your service.
Yours sincerely,
Robert Reich, former secretary of labor
Robert Reich is a professor of public policy at Berkeley and former secretary of labor. His writings can be found at https://robertreich.substack.com/
I’m addressing this post to America’s 2.3 million federal employees.
My message: Don’t accept Elon’s offer.
Yesterday, Musk — via people he’s planted in the Office of Personnel Management — sent an email to all 2.3 million of you, offering to pay you for eight months of work, through September 30, if you’ll resign from the government before February 6. Otherwise, you risk being furloughed (that is, not paid) or fired.
You know what this is about. Not slimming the federal workforce, but substituting Trump loyalists for people like you, who are working for the American public.
Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff for policy, said it out loud Tuesday on CNN: "The 2 million employees in the federal government are overwhelmingly left of center.” And now that Trump is elected, "it is essential for him to get control of government.”
But the fact is, neither Musk nor even Trump has legal authority to offer you eight months of pay if you’ll resign by February 6.
Your salaries are funded by the federal agencies and departments you work for, not by the Office of Personnel Management, not by Musk, and not by Trump.
None of them is authorized by Congress to move money from one agency or department to another without Congress’s approval. I know. I used to be a cabinet secretary.
Besides, the funding for your agency or department is guaranteed only through March 14, when the government is expected to shut down unless the debt ceiling is lifted. If not, any commitment for additional pay is worthless.
In fact, Musk (and Trump) are violating the law by agreeing to spend money that the administration doesn’t have. Congress could declare the entire offer illegal — which it is. Then where would you be?
May I also add that you shouldn’t trust Trump or Musk.
Trump has a long history of stiffing workers and contractors.
So, for that matter, does Musk. During the pandemic, Musk gave Tesla employees permission to remain at home if they didn’t feel comfortable reporting to the factory. Then he sent them termination notices alleging “failure to return to work.”
When he bought Twitter in 2022, Musk denied he wanted to lay off 75 percent of its staff (“No way I’m laying off 75 percent of them”) but then fired 80 percent of them (maybe that’s what he meant when he pledged not to fire 75 percent?)
In short, it’s a bum offer. Reject it.
By the way, thank you for your service.
Yours sincerely,
Robert Reich, former secretary of labor
Robert Reich is a professor of public policy at Berkeley and former secretary of labor. His writings can be found at https://robertreich.substack.com/
Major Public Sector Unions Sue Over Trump's 'Politicization' of Civil Service
The head of a legal group representing the plaintiffs called the Trump administration's effort to "politicize" nonpartisan federal employees "simply and clearly illegal."
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Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), speaks during a news conference outside the AFL-CIO headquarters on July 15, 2021 in Washington, DC.
(Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Eloise Goldsmith
Jan 30, 2025
COMMON DREAMS
Two unions representing federal employees filed a complaint in federal court on Wednesday arguing that U.S. President Donald Trump "illegally exceeded his authority" by attempting to roll back Biden-era worker protections when he implemented his "Schedule F" executive order, a measure aimed at removing job protections for many career federal employees.
The plaintiffs are the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), which represents some 800,000 federal civilian employees, and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), which represents some 1.4 million public employees, including federal workers.
The unions argue that Schedule F, which creates a new category of federal employees and makes it easier for a president to remove career civil servants not normally impacted by a presidential transition, is a scheme that put politics over professionalism.
"Despite this long-standing recognition of the importance of our professional civil service and protections against its politicization, the recently issued Schedule F order announces President Trump's intent to reclassify many career civil servants into a new category of federal employees and strip away their civil service protections so that they can be more easily fired," the plaintiffs argued.
Another union representing federal employees, National Treasury Employees Union, also filed a lawsuit challenging Schedule F last week.
The order, signed on Trump's first day in office, is a redux of an executive order that he implemented at the tail end of his first term, which was later reversed by former President Joe Biden.
In a statement Wednesday, AFSCME president Lee Saunders said that Schedule F "is a shameless attempt to politicize the federal workforce by replacing thousands of dedicated, qualified civil servants with political cronies."
"Our union was born in the fight for a professional, nonpartisan civil service, and our communities will pay the price if these anti-union extremists are allowed to undo decades of progress by stripping these workers of their freedoms. Together, we are fighting back," he said.
On Monday, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued guidance for the heads of departments and agencies to determine which workers are subject to Trump's Schedule F order.
The memo from OPM is "broadly worded; just about anyone in the civil service could be swept up into this category," Alan Lescht, a Washington, D.C.-based employment lawyer who represents federal workers, told the outlet Axios.
OPM, acting OPM Director Charles Ezell, and Trump are all listed as defendants in the lawsuit, which alleges that Trump overstepped his legal authority when he issued Schedule F and rendered parts of a preexisting OPM rule that reinforced civil service protections and merit system principles "inoperative and without effect."
The suit argues that OPM failed to adhere to the "notice-and-comment process" under Administrative Procedure Act when it rendered those regulatory provisions inoperative.
"In just the nine days since Trump took office, his administration has repeatedly demonstrated a blatant disregard for the law in service of its political objectives," said Democracy Forward president and CEO Skye Perryman, whose firm is serving as co-counsel for the plaintiffs, in a Wednesday statement.
The Trump administration's effort "to politicize the nonpartisan, independent federal employees who protect our national and domestic security, ensure our food and medications are safe, deliver essential services to people and communities everywhere, and much more is simply and clearly illegal," Perryman said.
The head of a legal group representing the plaintiffs called the Trump administration's effort to "politicize" nonpartisan federal employees "simply and clearly illegal."
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Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), speaks during a news conference outside the AFL-CIO headquarters on July 15, 2021 in Washington, DC.
(Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Eloise Goldsmith
Jan 30, 2025
COMMON DREAMS
Two unions representing federal employees filed a complaint in federal court on Wednesday arguing that U.S. President Donald Trump "illegally exceeded his authority" by attempting to roll back Biden-era worker protections when he implemented his "Schedule F" executive order, a measure aimed at removing job protections for many career federal employees.
The plaintiffs are the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), which represents some 800,000 federal civilian employees, and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), which represents some 1.4 million public employees, including federal workers.
The unions argue that Schedule F, which creates a new category of federal employees and makes it easier for a president to remove career civil servants not normally impacted by a presidential transition, is a scheme that put politics over professionalism.
"Despite this long-standing recognition of the importance of our professional civil service and protections against its politicization, the recently issued Schedule F order announces President Trump's intent to reclassify many career civil servants into a new category of federal employees and strip away their civil service protections so that they can be more easily fired," the plaintiffs argued.
Another union representing federal employees, National Treasury Employees Union, also filed a lawsuit challenging Schedule F last week.
The order, signed on Trump's first day in office, is a redux of an executive order that he implemented at the tail end of his first term, which was later reversed by former President Joe Biden.
In a statement Wednesday, AFSCME president Lee Saunders said that Schedule F "is a shameless attempt to politicize the federal workforce by replacing thousands of dedicated, qualified civil servants with political cronies."
"Our union was born in the fight for a professional, nonpartisan civil service, and our communities will pay the price if these anti-union extremists are allowed to undo decades of progress by stripping these workers of their freedoms. Together, we are fighting back," he said.
On Monday, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued guidance for the heads of departments and agencies to determine which workers are subject to Trump's Schedule F order.
The memo from OPM is "broadly worded; just about anyone in the civil service could be swept up into this category," Alan Lescht, a Washington, D.C.-based employment lawyer who represents federal workers, told the outlet Axios.
OPM, acting OPM Director Charles Ezell, and Trump are all listed as defendants in the lawsuit, which alleges that Trump overstepped his legal authority when he issued Schedule F and rendered parts of a preexisting OPM rule that reinforced civil service protections and merit system principles "inoperative and without effect."
The suit argues that OPM failed to adhere to the "notice-and-comment process" under Administrative Procedure Act when it rendered those regulatory provisions inoperative.
"In just the nine days since Trump took office, his administration has repeatedly demonstrated a blatant disregard for the law in service of its political objectives," said Democracy Forward president and CEO Skye Perryman, whose firm is serving as co-counsel for the plaintiffs, in a Wednesday statement.
The Trump administration's effort "to politicize the nonpartisan, independent federal employees who protect our national and domestic security, ensure our food and medications are safe, deliver essential services to people and communities everywhere, and much more is simply and clearly illegal," Perryman said.
Federal Workers Union Warns Trump Purge 'Will Cause Chaos'
"Between the flurry of anti-worker executive orders and policies, it is clear that the Trump administration's goal is to turn the federal government into a toxic environment where workers cannot stay even if they want to."
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U.S. President Donald Trump arrives at the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C. on January 27, 2025.
(Photo: Kent Nishimura/AFP via Getty Images)
Jessica Corbett
Jan 28, 2025
COMMON DREAMS
A union that represents over 800,000 employees of the federal and District of Columbia governments on Tuesday responded with alarm to U.S. President Donald Trump's effort to pressure some workers to leave their jobs.
"The number of civil servants hasn't meaningfully changed since 1970, but there are more Americans than ever who rely on government services," said American Federation of Government Employees national president Everett Kelley in a statement. "Purging the federal government of dedicated career federal employees will have vast, unintended consequences that will cause chaos for the Americans who depend on a functioning federal government."
"This offer should not be viewed as voluntary," Kelley added, referring to a memo emailed to federal employees on Tuesday. "Between the flurry of anti-worker executive orders and policies, it is clear that the Trump administration's goal is to turn the federal government into a toxic environment where workers cannot stay even if they want to."
Another labor group for federal workers, the National Treasury Employees Union, filed suit last week over one of those orders, which reinstated, with some amendments, the "Schedule F" measure that Trump implemented near the end of his first term.
In response to the administration's actions regarding the federal workforce, some critics have pointed to the Heritage Foundation-led Project 2025, from which the Republican president unsuccessfully tried to distance himself while on the campaign trail. As Common Dreamsreported earlier Tuesday, a U.S. tech researcher revealed that the authors of policies published by Trump's Office of Personnel Management (OPM) have ties to the far-right organization and its infamous initiative.
Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) said in a Tuesday night statement that "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," added Connolly, ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Connolly and Kelley's and comments on Tuesday came after a senior Trump official toldAxios that "the government-wide email being sent today is to make sure that all federal workers are on board with the new administration's plan to have federal employees in office and adhering to higher standards. We're five years past Covid and just 6% of federal employees work full-time in office. That is unacceptable."
While Axios broke the news of the "acceleration in President Trump's already unprecedented purge of the federal workforce," other media outlets also swiftly published related reports. Government Executivecalled out the debunked 6% figure, noting that "more than half of federal workers cannot telework because their duties are portable, and employees who telework spent around 60% of their work hours in person, per 2024 Office of Management and Budget data."
Many initial reports framed the message to federal workers as a "buyout" program, but after OPM posted the full memo on its website, experts including Alan Mygatt-Tauber, an adjust professor at Seattle University School of Law, emphasized that it "is absolutely NOT an early resignation offer with eight months severance pay."
Slate journalist Mark Joseph Stern similarly stressed that "this is NOT a buyout! Those who take the offer simply get permission to telework through September, at which point they lose their jobs. Media coverage of the details has been pretty misleading."
The OPM memo emailed to workers explains that the "reformed federal workforce" will be built around four pillars: a return to the office, performance culture, a more streamlined and flexible workforce, and enhanced standards of conduct.
The memo states:
If you choose to remain in your current position, we thank you for your renewed focus on serving the American people to the best of your abilities and look forward to working together as part of an improved federal workforce. At this time, we cannot give you full assurance regarding the certainty of your position or agency but should your position be eliminated you will be treated with dignity and will be afforded the protections in place for such positions.
If you choose not to continue in your current role in the federal workforce, we thank you for your service to your country and you will be provided with a dignified, fair departure from the federal government utilizing a deferred resignation program. This program begins effective January 28 and is available to all federal employees until February 6. If you resign under this program, you will retain all pay and benefits regardless of your daily workload and will be exempted from all applicable in-person work requirements until September 30, 2025 (or earlier if you choose to accelerate your resignation for any reason).
The offer "applies to all full-time federal employees, except for military personnel, the Postal Service, and those working in immigration enforcement or national security," Axios detailed. The White House expects 5-10% of workers will take the deal.
As NBC Newsnoted Tuesday:
Tech billionaire Elon Musk, who is now in charge of Trump's new Department of Government Efficiency, famously sent a similar email to employees shortly after he took over Twitter, which he renamed X, asking them to opt in to keep working at the company.
White House officials wouldn't say whether he was involved in the current effort. But the subject line of the email that will be sent to federal workers is: "A fork in the road."
Musk now has a post pinned on X of an art piece he commissioned called "A Fork in the Road."
Although "department" is in the name of the Musk-led entity, it is actually a presidential advisory commission—and although the billionaire initially suggested that it would lead the effort to cut $2 trillion in annual spending, he has since tempered expectations.
The commission and Musk, the world's richest person, have faced intense scrutiny from watchdog groups and progressive lawmakers, though some have also offered advice on how to pursue significant cuts without harming the lives of working people, including: ending privatized Medicare, reducing prescription drug prices, and slashing the Pentagon's massive budget.
This post was updated after the Office of Personnel Management memo was officially released to clarify the buyout language and add comment from Congressman Gerry Connolly.
"Between the flurry of anti-worker executive orders and policies, it is clear that the Trump administration's goal is to turn the federal government into a toxic environment where workers cannot stay even if they want to."
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U.S. President Donald Trump arrives at the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C. on January 27, 2025.
(Photo: Kent Nishimura/AFP via Getty Images)
Jessica Corbett
Jan 28, 2025
COMMON DREAMS
A union that represents over 800,000 employees of the federal and District of Columbia governments on Tuesday responded with alarm to U.S. President Donald Trump's effort to pressure some workers to leave their jobs.
"The number of civil servants hasn't meaningfully changed since 1970, but there are more Americans than ever who rely on government services," said American Federation of Government Employees national president Everett Kelley in a statement. "Purging the federal government of dedicated career federal employees will have vast, unintended consequences that will cause chaos for the Americans who depend on a functioning federal government."
"This offer should not be viewed as voluntary," Kelley added, referring to a memo emailed to federal employees on Tuesday. "Between the flurry of anti-worker executive orders and policies, it is clear that the Trump administration's goal is to turn the federal government into a toxic environment where workers cannot stay even if they want to."
Another labor group for federal workers, the National Treasury Employees Union, filed suit last week over one of those orders, which reinstated, with some amendments, the "Schedule F" measure that Trump implemented near the end of his first term.
In response to the administration's actions regarding the federal workforce, some critics have pointed to the Heritage Foundation-led Project 2025, from which the Republican president unsuccessfully tried to distance himself while on the campaign trail. As Common Dreamsreported earlier Tuesday, a U.S. tech researcher revealed that the authors of policies published by Trump's Office of Personnel Management (OPM) have ties to the far-right organization and its infamous initiative.
Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) said in a Tuesday night statement that "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," added Connolly, ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Connolly and Kelley's and comments on Tuesday came after a senior Trump official toldAxios that "the government-wide email being sent today is to make sure that all federal workers are on board with the new administration's plan to have federal employees in office and adhering to higher standards. We're five years past Covid and just 6% of federal employees work full-time in office. That is unacceptable."
While Axios broke the news of the "acceleration in President Trump's already unprecedented purge of the federal workforce," other media outlets also swiftly published related reports. Government Executivecalled out the debunked 6% figure, noting that "more than half of federal workers cannot telework because their duties are portable, and employees who telework spent around 60% of their work hours in person, per 2024 Office of Management and Budget data."
Many initial reports framed the message to federal workers as a "buyout" program, but after OPM posted the full memo on its website, experts including Alan Mygatt-Tauber, an adjust professor at Seattle University School of Law, emphasized that it "is absolutely NOT an early resignation offer with eight months severance pay."
Slate journalist Mark Joseph Stern similarly stressed that "this is NOT a buyout! Those who take the offer simply get permission to telework through September, at which point they lose their jobs. Media coverage of the details has been pretty misleading."
The OPM memo emailed to workers explains that the "reformed federal workforce" will be built around four pillars: a return to the office, performance culture, a more streamlined and flexible workforce, and enhanced standards of conduct.
The memo states:
If you choose to remain in your current position, we thank you for your renewed focus on serving the American people to the best of your abilities and look forward to working together as part of an improved federal workforce. At this time, we cannot give you full assurance regarding the certainty of your position or agency but should your position be eliminated you will be treated with dignity and will be afforded the protections in place for such positions.
If you choose not to continue in your current role in the federal workforce, we thank you for your service to your country and you will be provided with a dignified, fair departure from the federal government utilizing a deferred resignation program. This program begins effective January 28 and is available to all federal employees until February 6. If you resign under this program, you will retain all pay and benefits regardless of your daily workload and will be exempted from all applicable in-person work requirements until September 30, 2025 (or earlier if you choose to accelerate your resignation for any reason).
The offer "applies to all full-time federal employees, except for military personnel, the Postal Service, and those working in immigration enforcement or national security," Axios detailed. The White House expects 5-10% of workers will take the deal.
As NBC Newsnoted Tuesday:
Tech billionaire Elon Musk, who is now in charge of Trump's new Department of Government Efficiency, famously sent a similar email to employees shortly after he took over Twitter, which he renamed X, asking them to opt in to keep working at the company.
White House officials wouldn't say whether he was involved in the current effort. But the subject line of the email that will be sent to federal workers is: "A fork in the road."
Musk now has a post pinned on X of an art piece he commissioned called "A Fork in the Road."
Although "department" is in the name of the Musk-led entity, it is actually a presidential advisory commission—and although the billionaire initially suggested that it would lead the effort to cut $2 trillion in annual spending, he has since tempered expectations.
The commission and Musk, the world's richest person, have faced intense scrutiny from watchdog groups and progressive lawmakers, though some have also offered advice on how to pursue significant cuts without harming the lives of working people, including: ending privatized Medicare, reducing prescription drug prices, and slashing the Pentagon's massive budget.
This post was updated after the Office of Personnel Management memo was officially released to clarify the buyout language and add comment from Congressman Gerry Connolly.
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