The Trump administration is set to oversee the largest mass resignation in U.S. history on Tuesday, with more than 100,000 federal employees expected to formally leave as part of its deferred resignation program.
With Congress facing a Tuesday deadline to authorize new funding—or risk a government shutdown—the White House has also instructed federal agencies to prepare for large-scale firings if lawmakers fail to reach a deal.
Employees participating in the resignation program, a key element of Donald Trump’s broad federal workforce reductions, described months of “fear and intimidation” that left them feeling they had no real choice but to depart.
“Federal workers stay for the mission. When that mission is taken away, when they’re scapegoated, when their job security is uncertain, and when their tiny semblance of work-life balance is stripped away, they leave,” a longtime Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) employee told the Guardian. “That’s why I left.”
The deferred resignation program is projected to cost $14.8bn, with 200,000 workers receiving full salary and benefits while on administrative leave for up to eight months, according to a July report by Senate Democrats.
Trump administration officials defend the expense, with the Office of Personnel Management claiming the one-time payments reduce long-term federal spending. Officials also criticized job protections for civil servants, suggesting the government should adopt a “modern, at-will employment framework like most employers.”
A White House spokesperson said there was “no additional cost to the government” since employees would have received their salaries regardless. “In fact, this is the largest and most effective workforce reduction plan in history and will save the government $28bn annually,” the spokesperson added.
The total number of departures expected through deferred resignation, voluntary separation, attrition, and early retirement programs is around 275,000 employees, according to the spokesperson.
Several thousand additional federal workers have been terminated as part of the administration’s reduction-in-force mandates, marking the largest single-year drop in civilian federal employment since World War II.
Many employees who accepted the deferred resignation offer spoke anonymously, hoping to protect future federal job prospects.
They are entering a challenging job market, with the August 2025 unemployment rate climbing to 4.3%, the highest since 2021, and only 22,000 jobs added amid disruptions from Trump’s tariffs.
“It’s a huge grieving process,” said a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) employee who accepted the deferred resignation offer. “Many of us hoped to finish our careers with the government and felt connected to the mission, especially in the VA. But after months of burnout and uncertainty, leaving became a mental health decision.”
Communicating their reasons for leaving has been difficult amid job hunting, the VA employee said. “The job market stinks right now. It’s great to not be working 60 to 70 hours a week anymore, but you lose your support system from those who stayed and face judgment for leaving.”
An archaeologist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and military veteran described feeling forced into the program due to pressure and intimidation. “I loved my job, but the environment made me accept the resignation plan. Not through legal means, but fear,” they said.
They cited comments from Russell Vought, Trump’s head of the Office of Management and Budget, who last October said of federal workers: “When they wake up in the morning, we want them to not want to go to work, because they are increasingly viewed as the villains. We want their funding to be shut down … We want to put them in trauma.”
“This is exactly what happened,” the USDA worker said. “I was scared every day—scared of being fired, barred from future service, or waiting too long to leave and not finding a job.”
Public criticism of federal employees also contributed to the decision to resign, the archaeologist added. Another USDA worker was fired as a probationary employee in February, reinstated in April, and then took the deferred resignation offer. “At that point, I felt they could terminate me at any time,” they said.
Labor unions, including the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), filed a lawsuit challenging the deferred resignation program, alleging it circumvents congressional authority and undermines government agency functions.
“Purging the federal government of dedicated career employees will have vast, unintended consequences that will cause chaos for Americans who depend on a functioning government,” said AFGE president Everett Kelley in February. “This offer should not be viewed as voluntary. The Trump administration’s policies are turning the federal workplace into an environment where employees cannot stay even if they want to.”
