According
to

reporting
from
NPR,
attorneys
and
unions
are
urging
federal
workers
not
to
hastily
accept
the
offer.
The
OPM
email,
with
a
subject
line
reading,
“A
fork
in
the
road,”
is
not
actually
a
buyout,
according
to
Jim
Eisenmann,
a
partner
at

Alden
Law
Group
who
represents
federal
employees.

“[The
offer
is]
not
based
on
any
law
or
regulation
or
anything
really
other
than
an
idea
they
cooked
up
to
get
federal
employees
out
of
the
government,”
Eisenmann
told
NPR.

By
outward
appearance
—
and
for
federal
workers
who
are
anxious
about

being
forced
to
return
to
work
in
the
office
—
it
could
look
like
a
“soft
landing”
as
they
aim
to
figure
out
what
to
do
next.
But
the
offer
itself
said
there
is
“no
guarantee
other
things
won’t
happen
to
them
between
now
and
then,
like
they
won’t
get
fired
for
some
other
reason
or
they
won’t
get
laid
off
pursuant
to
a
reduction
in
force,”
according
to
Eisenmann.

Jim
Thompson,
a
former

U.S.
Department
of
State
employee
and
current
director
of
government
capacity
at
the

Federation
of
American
Scientists,
urged
federal
employees
In
a

post
on

LinkedIn
to
seek
input
from
an
attorney
and
an
accountant
before
making
a
final
decision.

The
program,
which
OPM
calls
“deferred
resignation,”
lacks
“crucial
specifics
about
benefit
continuation,
retirement
implications,
and
future
employment
rights
that
would
typically
be
included
in
federal
workforce
reduction
programs,”
Thompson
said.
He
also
characterized
the
decision
window
as
“artificially
short,”
which
may
not
offer
enough
time
for
employees
to
seek
input
from
qualified
experts
or
advisers
about
the
implications
of
such
a
move.

Federal
employee
unions
are
urging
their
members
not
to
accept
the
offer,
with
some
going
as
far
as
calling
the
policy
a
“resignation
threat.”

“It’s
written
pretty
clearly
that
if
you
don’t
take
this
thing,
this
so-called
offer,
you
may
not
have
a
job,”
Matthew
Biggs,
president
of
the

International
Federation
of
Professional
&
Technical
Engineers
(IFPTE),
told
NPR.

Biggs
referred
to
part
of
the
email
that
said
OPM
“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
IFPTE
represents
scientists,
engineers
and

cybersecurity
experts
who
work
for
agencies
including

NASA.
Biggs
called
into
question
what
the
impact
would
be
on
national
security
should
a
large
swath
of
such
employees
take
up
the
offer.

On
Wednesday,
White
House
Press
Secretary
Karoline
Leavitt
rejected
suggestions
that
the
move
is
designed
as
a
“purge”
of
government
workers.

“That’s
absolutely
false,”
she
said.
“This
is
a
suggestion
to
federal
workers
that
they
have
to
return
to
work.
And
if
they
don’t,
then
they
have
the
option
to
resign,
and
this
administration
is
very
generously
offering
to
pay
them
for
eight
months.”

When
it
comes
to
the


U.S.
Department
of
Housing
and
Urban
Development
(HUD),
the
return-to-office
mandate
has
the
vocal
support
of
Scott
Turner,
the
nominee
to
lead
the
agency.
He
spoke
of
his
support
for
it
during
his


Senate
confirmation
hearing

earlier
this
month.

“The
reports
I’ve
read
[say]
that
HUD
is
at
the
bottom
when
it
comes
to
employees
returning
to
work,”
Turner
said
during
the
hearing.
“I’ve
been
on
many
teams
in
my
career,
and
I
believe
we
need
to
bring
the
HUD
staff
back
to
work,
back
to
the
office,
to
do
the
job
and
empower
them
to
serve
the
American
people.”

Others
have
pointed
out
that
the
OPM
email’s
subject
line
is
identical
to
one
received
by
employees
at

Twitter
after
Elon
Musk’s
2022
purchase
of
the
social
media
platform,
which
he
later
renamed

X.

Reporting
by
The
New
York
Times
suggested
that
Musk,
who
has
taken
an
important
role
in
spearheading

“government
efficiency”
at
the
White
House,
has
turned
much
of
his
attention
to
OPM
and
the
size
of
the
federal
workforce.