By MATTHEW MPOKE BIGG and ALI WATKINS NYTimes News Service
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The Trump administration has offered roughly 2 million government employees the option to resign and continue being paid for several months, a move that could significantly reduce the size of the federal workforce.

The plan immediately drew criticism from Democrats and unions representing federal workers, who said such a vast reduction could create chaos for Americans who rely on government services. The offer was also met with skepticism by many federal workers.

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Here is a look at the plan and its possible implications:

What is the plan?

An email sent to employees Tuesday by the Office of Personnel Management, an agency that oversees the federal civilian workforce, was titled “Fork in the Road.” It laid out a program for deferred resignations, under which employees of federal agencies are given the option to resign and continue being paid until Sept. 30.

The email said that the last date to accept the offer is Feb. 6, and that employees could do so simply by sending an email from their government account with the word “resign” in the subject line.

How will this work?

Employees who accept the offer will “promptly have their duties reassigned or eliminated,” according to a guidance memo from the Office of Personnel Management. They will then be placed on paid administrative leave until the end of September, or sooner if they have chosen an earlier resignation date. Workers will continue to be paid on their regular schedule — they will not receive a lump-sum payment after resigning, according to the agency.

Employees who resign will not be expected to work, except in cases described as “rare” and determined by agencies, according to a Q&A page on OPM’s website. The memo included language that gives agency leaders some room to require people to continue working. Agency leaders can deem it necessary for some workers to “be actively engaged in transitioning job duties,” according to the memo. Employees are expected to be placed on leave once that work is done.

The message sent to federal workers closely resembled an email that billionaire Elon Musk sent to Twitter employees after buying the social media platform in late 2022. Musk’s email shared the same subject line and offered employees severance packages.

Musk has been leading the cost-cutting effort that President Donald Trump named the Department of Government Efficiency, which has been tasked with shrinking the federal government. In a post on X, Musk’s social media platform, the billionaire said Wednesday that employees who take the offer can do “whatever you like, including obtaining a new job.”

Why is the Trump administration doing this?

Slashing the size of the federal government is a priority for Trump, as it has been for many Republican presidents. After winning the November election, he said that a smaller and more efficient government, with less bureaucracy, would be a “perfect gift to America” for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 2026. Musk shared a post on X claiming that 5% to 10% of the federal workforce was expected to quit, saving the government $100 billion. The federal government spent $6.75 trillion in fiscal year 2024.

Trump has also described the federal workforce as part of a “deep state” that attempted to thwart his priorities during his first term in office and maintains that dramatic action is necessary to combat this group’s power.

Critics say Trump’s efforts risk gutting federal agencies whose nonpartisan work offers far-reaching legal, economic and social benefits for Americans.

The plan is part of a raft of changes that Trump envisions for the federal civil service, some of which were detailed in the email sent by the OPM. They include ending remote work and changes to performance standards to ensure that all employees are “reliable, loyal, trustworthy.” The email also said that a substantial number of workers could be furloughed or reclassified to “at-will status,” in effect making them easier to fire.

Who is eligible?

The OPM said that all federal civilian workers were eligible, with the exception of military personnel, postal workers and certain employees involved with immigration enforcement or national security. Individual agencies could also choose to exclude specific staff members or positions from the offer, it said.

What happens if you don’t take the offer?

The agency said that the deferred resignation offer was “completely voluntary,” and that employees who did not respond to the email would retain their jobs. But it warned those who choose to remain in their positions that retaining their jobs was not guaranteed.

“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,” the email said.

The email also said that the majority of federal agencies would likely be downsized and physical offices would be consolidated, meaning that some workers would be relocated.

Is the offer legal?

Much about the plan remained unclear, including whether the administration can legally offer such a sweeping buyout package without budget authorization from Congress. On the Senate floor Tuesday night, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., urged federal workers not to resign, and warned that the administration was not legally bound to pay them after they stopped working.

The American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 800,000 federal workers and is the largest union of federal employees, condemned the offer, which its president, Everett Kelley, said would “cause chaos for the Americans who depend on a functioning federal government.”