How Trump administration is begging federal workers to take the ‘buyout’ and visit their ‘dream destination’

The Trump administration has sent a second ‘fork in the road’ email to 2 million federal employees talking up an offer to resign – this time dropping in enticing language about enjoying an ‘extended vacation’ and touring ‘dream destinations.’

It offers the lure of no-show, no-work jobs, benefits that keep accruing over time, and even dangles tropical getaways in an effort to persuade employees to move on, according to an email obtained by DailyMail.com.

The striking language, contained in a new FAQ document spelling out the terms of the deal and sent around to workers Thursday evening, comes after Democratic lawmakers called it an illegal trick and an employees’ union urged workers to pass on the unusual terms.

The new document poses a series of questions that rattled federal employees might be wondering about as they ponder whether to resign their posts in advance, while still getting paid through the end of September.

‘Am I allowed to get a second job during the deferred resignation period?’ reads one of the questions in the email, which came from the newly created Office of Personnel Management HR address, [email protected].

‘Absolutely!’ is the answer.

President Trump’s team has described the offer of ‘deferred resignation’ as a salve to those who aren’t willing to live with his new return-to-office orders. But it is also part of a government-wide purge. 

The feds would be allowed to keep their existing work-from-home arrangements after turning in their response by typing ‘Resign’ into the subject line of their response.

But the FAQ sheet makes clear the feds are expecting very little work during the period.

‘Can I take an extended vacation while on administrative leave?’ goes an additional sample question.

‘You are most welcome to stay at home and relax or travel to your dream destination. Whatever you would like,’ goes the response.

Another response makes clear that at least in most cases, the government is expecting very little.

‘Am I expected to work at my government job during the deferred resignation period?’ goes the question.

‘No’ is the response.

Yet another section, on why deferred resignation is being offered, the document says the workforce is undergoing ‘significant changes’ and that ‘you may wish to depart the federal government on terms that provide you with sufficient time and economic security to plan for your future—and have a nice vacation.’ 

An administration official summed up the purpose of the new guidance. ‘Basically they’re saying you’re definitely not going to work.’ There might be ‘rare instances where agencies might need you to work’ which get handled on an agency-by-agency basis.

The fulsomeness of the pitch that explicitly invokes vacation getaways on government time offers a hint that the play for early retirements hasn’t generated the anticipated response. 

The OPM posted the latest questions and responses as an update to a FAQ that it posted online for employees considering the offer before a Feb. 6 deadline. 

Officials said the White House initially said it expected 5-10% of of the workforce to take the deal, for a potential budget savings of $100 billion. That would involve a mass resignation of up to 200,000 people being willing to walk away from positions that typically offer more security than private sector jobs.

But there are not indications the offer is attracting anything close to that amount of interest, and an Office of Personnel Management spokesperson declined to reveal the number of workers who had accepted the terms.

Still, for workers nearing the retirement or hoping to take a summer break, or fearing the unknown amid DOGE head Elon Musk’s vow to slash funds and payrolls, it presents an opportunity.

The AFGE union issued its own fact sheet and warned the effort might be too good to be true. 

‘Employees should not take the Program at face value. The Program documentation, including the introductory email, an associated guidance memorandum … are riddled with inconsistencies and uncertainties. It is also unclear whether OPM has the legal authority to support the Program or its alleged benefits, and the eligibility criteria are vague,’ it said.

The ‘fork in the road’ language traces to Musk’s takeover of Twitter, and when the offer first broke he posted an image of what he said was a sculpture of a fork in the road. Musk now leads Trump’s new Office of Government Efficiency, and has placed many longtime aides at key agencies as part of his bid to transform government.

Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine, whose state is home to thousands of federal employees, this week termed the offer a ‘trick’ and urged them not to take it.

‘The president has no authority to make that offer. There’s no budget line item to pay people who are not showing up for work,’ he said. He compared it to accounts of Trump ‘stiffing’ contractors during his business career.

‘My message to federal employees who received this is: Yeah, the president has tried to terrorize you for about a week, and then gives you a little sweetheart offer if you resign in the next week, we’re just going to pay you for doing nothing for the next seven months. Don’t be fooled! He’s tricked hundreds of people with that offer. If you accept that offer and resign, he’ll stiff you, just like he stiffed the contractors. He doesn’t have any authority to do this.’

Some workers have been vowing to ‘hold the line’ in online chat groups. 

The move comes as a the top Treasury official overseeing the government’s payment system resigned, with mass departures at multiple agencies. At the U.S. Agency for International Development, more than 50 were placed on administrative leave.