‘exactly What It Looks Like’: Education Department Staffers Express Confusion About Trump’s Resignation Offer

Education Department staffers expressed confusion and shock as agency leaders held a staff meeting Wednesday that reiterated the terms of President Donald Trump’s sweeping plan to nudge federal workers into resigning.

The meeting, occurring just a day before a Feb. 6 deadline for civil servants to accept the administration’s offer to leave their posts early, also comes amid a pending executive order meant to dismantle the Education Department. Further reductions to the department’s workforce should be expected, top officials suggested to employees during the internal meeting led by some of the agency’s political staffers and human resources leadership.

“Where is this stuff in writing?” one employee asked during Wednesday's meeting.

Employees considering the offer who live outside the Washington, D.C., area were told the agency was still working to inventory property owned or leased by the government that workers could use amid the Trump administration’s return-to-office demands. POLITICO discussed the meeting with two people granted anonymity to provide details about the session without fear of retribution.

“This is one of many different things that this administration is exploring in the hope of getting towards that goal of reducing bureaucracy and ensuring that we are serving the American people as efficiently as possible,” Rachel Oglesby, the department’s chief of staff, told staff about the government’s deferred resignation program. “It’s exactly what it looks like.”

But employees expressed concern on the call about whether accepting a deferred resignation offer floated in late January by the federal Office of Personnel Management would affect their retirement plans. Others fretted over how any agreement would fare if the department closes, and whether they would be fired if they did not resign.

“Employees need to know what happens to these agreements if the Deptartment of Education is no longer an entity,” one employee commented during the meeting.

An Education Department spokesperson declined to comment.

While none of the staffers leading Wednesday’s gathering pressured employees to accept the administration’s offer, department human resources chief Jacqueline Clay emphasized to staff that the program was “a one-time offer and will not be offered again.” Upcoming restructuring efforts at the department could also result in the reduction of employees, she said.

“Will the department go into more restructuring and reshaping of its workforce? Yes,” Clay said. “Will there be potential other impacts to employees? Yes.”

The Trump administration has signaled its intent to issue an executive order aimed at dismantling the Education Department. Some federal employees are worried their agencies could face similar fates as the thousands of employees from the US Agency for International Development that are scheduled to be placed on leave Friday night.

“Folks are just incredibly anxious waiting for the other shoe to drop,” one Education Department employee said before the meeting. “Management isn't telling supervisors or employees what's coming down the pike.”

“We're all just kind of waiting to see what this shutdown EO looks like. People are buzzing around trying to find out who of our colleagues are on admin leave,” the employee said. “It's just disconnected and unnervingly quiet.”

Some employees aired concerns about how the deferred resignation offer from OPM would hold up against Trump’s promise to abolish the department. They said a sample agreement they received states that the Education secretary or designee has “the sole discretion to rescind the agreement” and that employees cannot take legal action in response.

When asked if former employees would have to pay back the money they received while on leave if the resignation program was to be struck down in the courts, Clay said to employees that OPM has confirmed that the program is “legal, permissible and allowable.”

Representatives from the White House’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency were scheduled to visit the Education Department on Wednesday to go through the department’s information systems, according to a department employee who was granted anonymity to discuss the situation. DOGE representatives were also working at Education Department headquarters Monday and seeking access to agency records.

Education Department employees have been on edge since several workers were put on administrative leave for participating in diversity, equity and inclusion training programs last Friday.

The American Federation of Government Employees, the union that represents workers at the Education Department, has received notice of 74 people put on leave, but they were not given specific reasons as to why certain employees were chosen. The agency is reviewing why the employees were placed on leave and AFGE was told the review process can take 30 to 45 days.