Tim Kaine Warns Federal Employees Against Taking Trump’s ‘Buyout’ Offer: ‘Do Not Be Fooled!’
Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) warned federal workers against seizing on President Donald Trump’s “buyout” deal on Tuesday, bluntly telling anyone tempted that the president has “no authority” to carry out the deal: “He’ll stiff you!”
Earlier that day, some federal workers received an email offering employees the opportunity to voluntarily leave their roles under the “deferred resignation program” by February 6. Those who quit will still receive pay and benefits until September. Federal workers are instructed to send an email with “Resign” in the subject line
The email outlines four core pillars for the revamped federal workforce: mandatory office return, a performance-driven culture, a leaner and more adaptable staff, and stricter conduct standards.
In response, Kaine took to the Senate floor Tuesday, blasting the offer as nothing more than smoke and mirrors.
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. This is a guy who made this promise to contractors again and again and again when he was a private business guy. ‘Oh, come work for me on my casino.’ ‘Come work for me in a hotel.’ ‘We’re going to do a handshake. We’re going to do a contract.’ The contractor does the work. and then finds out they get stiffed.
So my message to federal employees who receive 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. Do not be fooled by this guy.
You were here before he was here, and you’ll be here after he was here. Show up for work. Be diligent. Serve Americans every day. Make their life better. Answer their phone call. Give them an answer. Track down their constituent call. Don’t be fooled by a fake offer because he’s terrorized you in the last week, it would be easy to just resign now and get a check for seven months. Because I can tell you, that promise is worth nothing.
Meanwhile, Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, defended the plan as fiscally responsible: “American taxpayers pay for the salaries of federal government employees, and therefore deserve employees working on their behalf who actually show up to work in our wonderful federal buildings.”
She added: “If they don’t want to work in the office and contribute to making America great again, then they are free to choose a different line of work.”
Wired magazine journalist Zoë Schiffer reported that the memo, entitled A Fork In The Road, bore a striking resemblance to one sent to Twitter employees after Elon Musk’s takeover—right down to the title.
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