||| FROM THE OFFICE OF U.S. SENATOR PATTY MURRAY |||
I wanted to reach out with some information about the Trump administration’s “Fork in the Road” offer, which claims to give federal workers the option of a “deferred resignation” that would allegedly allow workers to “retain all pay and benefits regardless of your daily workload and be exempted from all applicable in-person work requirements until September 30.”
First, there is no guarantee workers who accept this offer will get paid through September 30 as promised. Not only is there no funding for that time frame right now, but I personally am deeply skeptical of any offer from a President like Donald Trump who has so consistently shown he will try to stiff workers if it furthers his personal goals and ambitions.
Being given only 9 days decide is a short amount of time to consider all of the financial impacts of potentially accepting the offer—including if and where you’d be able to find a new job, how this would impact benefits like Thrift Savings Plans, and more. And we know scammers often pressure people to act immediately.
Additionally, the information being provided includes a lot of caveats. It claims you can rescind your resignation if you change your mind—but that your job may no longer exist. It claims that you aren’t expected to work if you accept the offer—expect in rare cases determined by each individual agency. It claims that you can stay in your current role—but there’s no guarantee your position will be needed.
The lack of clear information and resources about exactly what will be allowed is rightfully creating confusion for the more than 56,000 federal workers across Washington state. To me, this leaves far too many questions unanswered.
And as the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee and the one who helps write our government funding bills, it’s important you know that, right now, the federal government is only funded through March 14, 2025. At this point, there is no funding allocated to agencies to pay staff for this offer.
Finally, I want to express a real gratitude for the federal workers who power so many essential services provided by our government. The American government is not Twitter—people rely on our federal workers and sometimes their work can be the difference between life and death. Federal workers help inspect meat processing facilities, they make sure baby formula is safe, they approve lifesaving drugs and treatments, they manage air traffic, help ensure clean drinking water, and so much else.
Where this administration continues to show outright hostility toward many of our federal workers, I will continue to fight for federal workers—everyone from Hanford workers to the people who are making sure you get your Social Security check.
Thank you,
Patty Murray
United States Senator for Washington state
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From what I have read, this “Fork in the Road” offer came from the Office of Personnel Management, which has been taken over by Elon Musk and his sleazy lieutenants, and may be operating with only loose coordination with the White House. It’s just like what he did in his Twitter takeover. But as Senator Murray states, there are no authorized or allocated funds to cover such payouts, which therefore may not be honored for those who accept the offer.
I don’t see any mention of this letter on Patty Murray’s website: https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/
Are you sure it even came from her office and not elsewhere? We are living in the disinformation and phishing era, after all.
I received the email, but it easily could’ve been spoofed.
As there is no funding for the federal govt as of March 14, 2025, even if we stayed, there is no guarantee we will be paid.
What does the Senator offer as a suggestion to cut spending and reduce the size of the government? Both parties need to quick complaining about each other and start to resolve the countries problems. Please put the people first.
Many people know that two of the trade-off benefits for the modest compensation for federal and other civil service jobs, relative to much of the private sector, are secure and steady employment and guaranteed retirement pensions, now rare in private industry. In other words, a portion of current income is deferred for post-retirement security. Future pension benefits are increasingly hard for employers to fund, but they are contractual guarantees. So Trump / Musk may lay off federal workers or offer 9-month buy outs, but they will still be entitled to their lifetime benefits.
Linda Berberich, PhD,
It is bizarre that you would question whether the content is legitimate.
There are plenty of information sources that confirm the issues raised.
This is just a plain fact:
“And as the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee and the one who helps write our government funding bills, it’s important you know that, right now, the federal government is only funded through March 14, 2025. At this point, there is no funding allocated to agencies to pay staff for this offer. ”
And I am completely on board with this perspective:
“Finally, I want to express a real gratitude for the federal workers who power so many essential services provided by our government. The American government is not Twitter—people rely on our federal workers and sometimes their work can be the difference between life and death. Federal workers help inspect meat processing facilities, they make sure baby formula is safe, they approve lifesaving drugs and treatments, they manage air traffic, help ensure clean drinking water, and so much else. ”
Maybe you should confine your commenting to the platform formerly known as Twitter, and now as “X” since Elon bought it and ran it into the ground. People are leaving X because it has become a propaganda platform.