35° and Overcast
Image
2-04-2025 9:57pm
Congressman Lynch’s Advice on Federal “Early Buyout” Offer: “Don’t Sign This”
Darlene Cancell
Editor
Congressman Stephen Lynch (MA-08), while attending a Special Town Meeting on February 3rd in Stoughton, MA, took the opportunity to encourage all federal employees receiving an offer of deferred resignation, or an “early buyout” letter, from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, to exercise extreme caution about what he called, “the recent erroneous communications from the Trump Administration.”
In an email sent to federal employees dated January 28, 2025, the OPM noted that employees choosing to remain in their positions cannot be guaranteed of keeping their position, and stated that those accepting a deferred resignation offer could "retain all pay and benefits regardless of your daily workload" while being exempt from in-person work until September 30, 2025 or earlier.
Congressman Lynch explained his concerns about the Trump Administration offer in a post to social media platform, X. “So, what this letter does, it basically says, if you’re interested in this supposed early retirement, [ ] just type in the word, ‘resigned’ and you’ll be separated from federal employment and you’ll be able to collect about nine months of severance pay. But in the meantime, you can go work in the private sector. All of that is false. There is no special program. . . . I’m just nervous people are going to sign into this, thinking this is a real program. There’s been no money appropriated by Congress for this supposed early buyout. And if you did separate, it might be difficult to get you back on the federal payroll," he said.
Congressman Lynch urged his constituents to be wary. “I urge you to exercise extreme caution. Don’t sign this, because the program does not exist,” he said. Congressman Lynch advises federal employees to contact their union if they are members. If they do not have a union, he urges them to call his office for guidance at 617-428-2000.
While there is skepticism among many like Congressman Lynch who doubt the ability of the Trump Administration to carry out its promised offer of early retirement, advice on how to seriously weigh the offer has also been presented by others. Personal finance online publication, Kiplinger.com has published answers to a set of questions that it says federal employees facing this offer will need to make quickly, in an article titled, Federal Employees Buyout Offer: Five Things to Consider. OPM has also posted answers to a list of Frequently Asked Questions, including a description of who is eligible for the deferred resignation offer, how taking the offer affects future ability to work in federal government, whether a formal agreement will be signed, among other questions.
OPM states that the deferred resignation offer, which OPM refers to as “Fork in the Road,” is effective between January 28 and February 6th. It states that “[d]eferred resignation will generally not be available to those who resign after February 6, 2025. Certain exceptions might be made for employees who were on approved absence for some or all of the period from January 28, 2025 to February 6, 2025.”
