OPM will grant VERA authority to all agencies, as confusion around ‘deferred resignation’ program continues – Government Executive
An OPM official confirmed that it will grant Voluntary Early Retirement Authority on a governmentwide basis.
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Erich Wagner
The Office of Personnel Management will grant federal agencies the authority to offer early retirement in conjunction with this week’s offer of purported “deferred resignations” to most employees, as the administration continues its campaign to entice, cajole and, in some cases, taunt federal workers into quitting.This comes despite continued confusion and concern among federal workers, employee groups and observers over shifting messaging from the administration about how the legally dubious program—using paid administrative leave to circumvent Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment caps—would work as well as who is actually eligible for it.In an email to employees Thursday night, federal agencies insisted that the “buyout offer,” as the administration initially described it, is both legal and “will be honored,” in an apparent response to Democrats and employee groups’ warnings otherwise.“I am informing you that OPM assures the federal workforce that the offer is valid, lawful and will be honored,” an email to Justice Department workers obtained by Government Executive states. “If you accept the deferred resignation offer, you will receive pay and benefits through September 30, 2025, and will not be subject to a reduction-in-force or other premature separation.”Several emails from federal agencies state that agencies are requesting the authority to offer Voluntary Early Retirement Authority to eligible workers who accept the deferred resignation offer, and that agencies would consider later resignation dates if employees’ eligibility for VERA falls before the end of December. To qualify for early retirement, a federal worker must be 50 years old with at least 20 years of service or have at least 25 years of service with no age requirement.An OPM official confirmed that it will grant those authorities on a governmentwide basis.Another email, sent governmentwide via OPM’s controversial new email server, highlighted new answers added to an FAQ on the HR agency’s website, in an apparent effort to demean feds into taking the resignation offer.“We encourage you to find a job in the private sector as soon as you would like to do so,” the agency stated in response to questions about whether employees can seek outside employment while on leave. “The way to greater American prosperity is encouraging people to move from lower productivity jobs in the public sector to higher productivity jobs in the private sector.”All the while, it remains unclear which portions of the federal workforce are actually eligible to accept the deferred resignation offer. While the initial solicitation noted that employees working in national security and immigration enforcement would be exempt and that individual agencies can make their own exemptions, U.S. Customs and Border Protection exempted both law enforcement and professional staff, and the entire staff of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency are similarly ineligible.The Social Security Administration, which is currently at a 50-year staffing low and already had restricted hiring before President Trump instituted a hiring freeze last week, told employees in an email Friday that the vast majority of its workforce cannot take deferred resignation or early retirements. But workers at other chronically understaffed agencies, such as the U.S. Bureau of Prisons and the Federal Aviation Administration’s cadre of air traffic controllers, have not received similar guidance from leadership.At least one region of the Veterans Affairs Department emailed staff on Friday to tell them guidance on the deferred resignation program would be forthcoming “in order to ensure continued healthcare operations.” Even employees who have already indicated they want to accept the offer and have received confirmation from OPM should continue to work until they hear otherwise from a supervisor, Laura Ruzick, the regional director said.“It is critical that no operational changes stemming from presidential directives or orders are implemented outside of official VHA Operations guidance,” Ruzick said. “Unless explicitly directed otherwise, we will maintain our current operational posture.”She added there was significant uncertainty given the transition and the president’s directives, but that was “not unique to the current administration.”The Defense Department declined to comment about whether civilian employees are exempt from accepting deferred resignations.Speaking with reporters Friday, Marie Owens Powell, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Council 238, which represents more than 8,000 Environmental Protection Agency workers, said she thinks Trump and Musk’s plan to demoralize federal workers into quitting has instead galvanized them.“I think what we have seen is, especially as it relates to this ‘fork in the road,’ it’s kind of backfiring,” she said. “It has made people angry, and then they doubled down with the ‘take a vacation’ or ‘low productivity jobs.’ People are furious.”Eric Katz contributed to this report.
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