Huge cuts to the federal workforce continue to come out of the White House as Elon Musk and President Donald Trump tap into more mechanisms for reducing headcount.
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After a judge on Wednesday declined to further pause the administration's deferred resignation program offered last month, the program is now closed, and 75,000 federal employees took the offer, an Office of Personnel Management spokesperson confirmed to Bisnow.
About 2.3 million federal employees were eligible for the program, meaning about 3.3% of employees accepted it. The “Fork in the Road” offer spearheaded by Musk's Department of Government Efficiency told employees they could resign now and get paid through September.
The real estate market had been keenly waiting on the number to see what impact it could have on the federal office portfolio while the administration is already ramping up real estate cuts.
“I think the market is curious to see the level of response to the administration's offer for the deferred resignation program and what numbers are actually reported,” Lincoln Property Co. Government Services Group Vice President William Ruppe told Bisnow this month.
Trump and Musk are still engaged in additional methods of reducing the federal workforce. The president signed an executive order Tuesday requiring agencies to work with DOGE to shrink their employee base.
Employees received a memo Wednesday morning from the Office of Personnel Management saying that “reductions in force,” or widespread layoffs, have commenced, The Washington Post reported. White House officials are eyeing 30% to 40% in average reductions across agency budgets, the Post reported.
Layoffs began Wednesday at the General Services Administration, the agency that manages the federal government’s real estate portfolio, SRN News and Reuters reported, both citing anonymous sources. More than 100 probationary employees — those in their first year or two with the government — were reportedly laid off.
“Like all agencies, GSA has been working to meet OPM memo requirements as it relates to probationary periods,” a GSA spokesperson told Bisnow in an email. “GSA has been and remains committed to ensuring a respectful and dignified process for our agency personnel during this transformation.”
The spokesperson said that out of respect, it would not be releasing the names of the programs affected or the number of employees potentially affected.
Letters to at least 160 new hires at the Department of Education said their continued employment “would not be in the public interest,” Reuters reported.
The publication also reported that 45 probationary Small Business Administration employees received letters saying they were “not fit for continued employment” because they were no longer needed and their performance “has not been adequate” to justify their employment.
At the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, all probationary employees received termination notices Tuesday, Government Executive reported.
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