Former President Donald Trump answers questions from autoworkers at a Sept. 27, 2024 town hall in Warren, Mich. | Kyle Davidson
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has joined with 12 other attorneys general from across the country warning federal employees to be wary of the Trump administration’s “deferred resignation” program, which offers federal employees pay through Sept. 30 if they resign by Thursday.
Calling the offer “misleading,” Nessel issued the warning in conjunction with the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Vermont and Washington.
“I take my role to protect Michigan consumers very seriously, and that includes the tens of thousands of federal workers who call this state home,” said Nessel. “For those considering the buyout, read the fine print before signing and be cautious, as certain benefits may not be guaranteed. Employees who are represented by a union should work with their labor representatives before entering into any contract changes.”
More than 2 million federal employees received an email on Jan. 28 from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) detailing a new deferred resignation program.
“If you resign under this program, you will retain all pay and benefits regardless of your daily workload and will be exempted from all applicable in-person work requirements until September 30, 2025 (or earlier if you choose to accelerate your resignation for any reason),” stated the memo.
A follow-up OPM email on Jan. 30 reiterated the offer and urged federal workers to find “higher productivity” jobs outside of government. Both emails set a February 6 deadline for employees to decide whether to remain in their positions or resign under the deferred resignation program. For those who did not choose to resign, they were warned that they were not guaranteed to keep their jobs.
OPM’s emails promoted swift responses from unions representing federal employees, with the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal employees’ union, releasing information for its members warning them that employees who accepted the offer were not guaranteed its benefits.
“… [T]he Program contains no guarantee that an employee’s resignation will be accepted. Nor does the Program guarantee that an employee’s whose resignation is accepted will receive the benefits that the Program purports to offer,” the union stated.
The National Federation of Federal Employees was more blunt in its warning to members, calling it a “maneuver … intended to panic civil servants into accepting what seems like a sweet deal but is probably a scam.”
According to the OPM Current Federal Civilian Employment by State and Congressional District Report released in December 2024, more than 29,600 federal employees reside in Michigan, an estimate that doesn’t include uniformed personnel or contractors who work in and around Michigan’s 11 military bases.
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