It’s a nerve-wracking time for Coastal Georgia’s nearly 16,700 federal workers, as the Trump administration’s purge of the federal workforce.
On Jan. 20, his first day in office, Donald Trump ordered a freeze on the hiring of civilian federal government employees and directed the Office of Management and Budget and Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service (USDS), to submit a plan within 90 days to reduce the size of the federal government’s workforce “through efficiency improvements and attrition.”
Eight days later, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a memo entitled “Fork in the Road,” offering to pay federal workers who don’t want to return to the office through Sept. 30, as long as they resign by Feb. 6.
Those who opt for the buyout are instructed to “type the word ‘Resign’ into the body of this reply email. Hit ‘Send.’”
Those federal workers who reject the buyout are offered no guarantees of future employment:
“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 offer applies to all full-time federal employees, except for military personnel, the Postal Service, and those working in immigration enforcement or national security.
It isn’t known how many Coastal Georgia workers on the federal payroll have opted for the buyout. The effects on the region’s economy and the delivery of government services of any workforce reduction also are unclear.
The White House says the hiring freeze and the buyout offer are aimed at improving government efficiency and reducing waste. Critics say the measures are aimed at pushing career federal workers out of their jobs and replacing them with Trump loyalists — a return, they say, to the patronage system that was outlawed by U.S. Congress in 1886, which replaced it with a nonpartisan, professional civil service.
The Pendleton Civil Service Act requires federal government jobs to be awarded on the basis of merit and performance on competitive exams, and it prohibits firing or demoting covered employees for political reasons as well as requiring employees to participate in political activities or to make political contributions.
As of March 2024, there were 16,682 federal workers in Coastal Georgia, with a margin of error of 2,699 employees, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service, the research arm of the U.S. Congress. They made up 4.70% of the region’s workforce. Statewide, there were 79,686 federal workers, the report said.