Naomi LaChance,
Alternet
February 4, 2025
February 4, 2025
Donald Trump (Photo by Brendan McDermid for Reuters)
After President Donald Trump offered a buyout for federal workers, one employee who works at a federal agency decided to take the deal — and has not heard back, despite the deadline being Thursday. The employee shared their experience with ABC News on Monday.
The “Fork in the Road” program offers federal employees the option to resign but continue receiving pay until September. The move is part of an attempt by the Department of Government Efficiency head Elon Musk to shrink the government. Some experts have said this move would be illegal because it is promising funds for a budget that Congress has not yet approved.
"This is happening," the anonymous employee thought when they decided to resign. "I was scared, nervous, and excited all at the same time. Thought about it for a day I think. ... And I just told myself that I'm going to do it."
They emailed the word “resign,” following the Office of Personnel Management’s instructions. They soon got a response: "We received your email response. We will reply shortly."
Almost a week later, the employee has not heard anything else, and the deadline is fast approaching.
Colleagues at their agency, they said, have been confused about the deal. Management, they said, had been silent; when they told management about their decision to resign, management apparently did not respond. The worker went to management again, and they were told “they should have waited for more guidance before accepting the offer,” ABC News’ Will Steakin wrote. Management also told them that they would still have to do their job after they resigned, although they later walked back that claim.
Last week, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that this program is a way to get people back into the workforce.
"We're all here at work, at the office," Leavitt said. "There are law enforcement officers and teachers and nurses across the country who showed up to the office today. People in this city need to do the same. It's an overwhelmingly popular policy with people outside of Washington, D.C."
Some experts have suggested that taking a second job would violate ethics rules.
The worker said that they had been considering quitting for some time. "I've been telling myself for the last five years that I was going to quit. But it's a good job, I like the job. ... I love my job,” they told ABC News.
They added: "This is just the nudge that I needed to take that leap.”
'Your duty to leave': Former Trump diplomat urges federal workers to quit
Jennifer Bowers Bahney
February 4, 2025
A former U.S. State Department employee under the first Trump administration is urging current federal workers to take an offered buyout and flee Washington.
Chuck Park served as a diplomat for 10 years before quitting the Foreign Service in disgust in 2019. Park wrote an opinion piece for The Washington Post then to explain his decision, and is now urging other government employees in the second Trump administration to follow his lead.
In a new opinion piece, Park references the "Fork in the road" email sent by "First Buddy" Elon Musk on Jan. 28, urging federal employees to consider taking a "deferred resignation offer." Park writes in Tuesday's piece, "Here’s my advice to civil servants: Take the fork."
"My breaking points were scenes of crying children at the border and a horrific episode of violence against immigrants in El Paso. Now the nation seems poised to repeat such cruelties," Park writes, adding that his vehement opposition to the first administration's policies was his signal to leave.
Park argues, "It isn’t noble to resist from within. It’s not public service to hide and bide your time within the vast machinery, ticking down the days until the next presidential election or the day your pension kicks in. If you can’t execute this administration’s policies (the lawful ones, that is), then it is your duty to leave. To be a part of some hostile 'deep state' or mire the administration in 'the swamp' only erodes Americans’ faith in government. That’s part of what got us here in the first place.'"
Quitting is not the same thing as surrendering, according to Park, and pursing his passion to fight for immigrants' rights became "the most powerful resistance."
"Many civil servants played heroic, steadying roles in the first Trump transition, from securing nuclear material to forecasting destructive hurricanes," Park writes. "This time around, the difference is that the president has two hands firmly on the steering wheel. His administration is moving with intention, not abandon. And it’s the responsibility of Congress, the courts and civil society — not the executive agencies — to resist his dangerous lurches."
Read The Washington Post opinion piece here.
Jennifer Bowers Bahney
February 4, 2025
A former U.S. State Department employee under the first Trump administration is urging current federal workers to take an offered buyout and flee Washington.
Chuck Park served as a diplomat for 10 years before quitting the Foreign Service in disgust in 2019. Park wrote an opinion piece for The Washington Post then to explain his decision, and is now urging other government employees in the second Trump administration to follow his lead.
In a new opinion piece, Park references the "Fork in the road" email sent by "First Buddy" Elon Musk on Jan. 28, urging federal employees to consider taking a "deferred resignation offer." Park writes in Tuesday's piece, "Here’s my advice to civil servants: Take the fork."
"My breaking points were scenes of crying children at the border and a horrific episode of violence against immigrants in El Paso. Now the nation seems poised to repeat such cruelties," Park writes, adding that his vehement opposition to the first administration's policies was his signal to leave.
Park argues, "It isn’t noble to resist from within. It’s not public service to hide and bide your time within the vast machinery, ticking down the days until the next presidential election or the day your pension kicks in. If you can’t execute this administration’s policies (the lawful ones, that is), then it is your duty to leave. To be a part of some hostile 'deep state' or mire the administration in 'the swamp' only erodes Americans’ faith in government. That’s part of what got us here in the first place.'"
Quitting is not the same thing as surrendering, according to Park, and pursing his passion to fight for immigrants' rights became "the most powerful resistance."
"Many civil servants played heroic, steadying roles in the first Trump transition, from securing nuclear material to forecasting destructive hurricanes," Park writes. "This time around, the difference is that the president has two hands firmly on the steering wheel. His administration is moving with intention, not abandon. And it’s the responsibility of Congress, the courts and civil society — not the executive agencies — to resist his dangerous lurches."
Read The Washington Post opinion piece here.
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