In NC, most federal workers will reject Musk’s buyout offer. They should | Opinion
Federal employees, including thousands in North Carolina, arrived at Elon Musk’s “fork in the road” Thursday, but most will likely choose not to take the path of resignation, according to a union representative for federal workers.
“We’re certainly urging members not to take the deal,” said Christine Surrette, an American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) vice president, whose District 4 includes North Carolina.
It’s a bad deal. Not only for federal workers, but also for taxpayers. Federal employees provide services people need. If the Trump administration doesn’t think so, there are less disruptive and more rational ways to thin the ranks.
Musk, appointed by President Trump to head the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, had the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) send an email to 2.3 million federal employees last week with the subject line “Fork in the road.” The email offered to pay employees through Sept. 30 if they resign by Feb. 6.
Otherwise, it said, “We cannot give you full assurance regarding the certainty of your position or agency.”
A federal judge on Thursday paused the deadline and set a hearing on the buyout program for Monday.
A Trump administration official told CNN on Thursday that more than 50,000 federal employees have accepted what the White House is calling a “buyout offer.” That’s about 2% of those who received the offer and many of those workers who took it may have been planning to leave anyway. The White House wants 5% to 10% of the 2.3 million workers to agree to resign.
Given Musk’s mass firing of workers after he purchased Twitter and Trump’s record of not paying his businesses’ vendors, Surrette said the move to reduce the federal workforce was expected, but the timing so early in the administration was a surprise.
“We feared it because we know how Trump and Musk have worked in the past,” she said. “But we didn’t expect it to come as quickly as in the first 10 days.”
Surrette, based in Asheville, also represents federal employees in West Virginia, Virginia and Maryland. There are 23,525 AFGE members in North Carolina. Their workplaces include the Marine Corps’ Camp Lejeune, the Army’s Fort Liberty, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Social Security offices, VA hospitals, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Park Service and the Bureau of Prisons. Federal employees who are managers are not represented by AFGE.
If many workers choose to resign, Surrette said, “It will devastate the government... We are already at a low staffing level. If people take this and are not working, there’s no plan to hire more people. It’s a good way to cripple the government.”
After the OPM email arrived, Surrette said her phone “blew up” with texts and voicemails from worried workers.
“My phone is still blowing up,” she said. “I have people who are scared, people who don’t know if they are going to get fired. Once you resign you have no rights. Once you send your name in to resign, you can’t change your mind, you can’t file any lawsuits. That’s it.”
Employees who are near retirement age are more likely to take the offer to resign and be paid for another six months, but that arrangement may be an illusion. Under the latest debt ceiling agreement, the government is funded only through March 14.
“There has to be money for this and I don’t trust Trump or the Congress to do the right thing because they’re violating the law now,” Surrette said. After March, the may say, “Sorry. We don’t have any money.“
Despite the weak response to its buyout offer, OPM said the deadline to decide is firm. In an email to federal workers on Tuesday, the agency said with bold emphasis: “There will NOT be an extension of this program.”
The passing of the deadline won’t end the worry. It may be the start of a purge of federal employees and a serious loss of services for those who depend on their work.
This story was originally published February 6, 2025 at 9:23 AM.