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New Jersey’s attorney general urges federal employees to ‘closely scrutinize’ resignation offer

Attorney General Matthew Platkin's statement comes days ahead of the Trump administration's deadline for federal employees to submit a "deferred resignation."

New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin visits the Women's Center in Cherry Hill on Jan. 27. Platkin warned New Jersey's federal employees to be cautious about a "deferred resignation" offer presented last week.
New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin visits the Women's Center in Cherry Hill on Jan. 27. Platkin warned New Jersey's federal employees to be cautious about a "deferred resignation" offer presented last week.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer

New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and 11 other Democratic state attorneys general released a joint statement to federal employees Monday, urging caution around the U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s “deferred resignation” offer, calling it “misleading.”

OPM announced the program last week, presenting workers a chance to resign with eight months’ pay and encouraging them to find work in the private sector.

Layoffs of federal workers are “likely” if too few people take the offer, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday, citing an email sent by an assistant commissioner of a division of the General Services Administration.

Platkin encouraged New Jersey’s roughly 22,500 federal workers — who he said are “increasingly being targeted by the Trump administration” — to “closely scrutinize the ‘buyout’ offer they have received.”

Delaware Attorney General Kathleen Jennings was among the 11 attorneys generals to join Platkin’s statement. Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday, a Republican, has not commented on the buyout offer.

Employees have until Thursday to alert OPM if they wish to take the deal, which would allow them full pay and benefits until their date of resignation on Sept. 30, according to a memo, titled “Fork in the Road,” that OPM sent to federal workers on Jan. 28. Workers who choose to stay are not guaranteed that their job or agency will exist in the future.

While the offer allows employees to get paid through September, the federal government is only funded through March 14. OPM is allowed to offer buyouts of up to $25,000 per person without an exception from Congress, but the average federal employee’s salary for eight months would amount to around $71,000 from February through September.

The AG’s warning echoes union leaders from the American Federation of Government Employees, who have taken a skeptical stance on the resignation offer in recent days and filed a lawsuit, alongside other unions and locals, Tuesday seeking a temporary restraining order for Thursday’s deadline.

“AFGE is bringing this suit with our partners today to protect the integrity of the government and prevent union members from being tricked into resigning from the federal service,” said AFGE national president Everett Kelley in a statement. “Federal employees shouldn’t be misled by slick talk from unelected billionaires and their lackeys. Despite claims made to the contrary, this deferred resignation scheme is unfunded, unlawful, and comes with no guarantees. We won’t stand by and let our members become the victims of this con.”

The Trump administration has moved quickly to shrink the federal workforce and overhaul its hiring and workforce protocols, aligning with the objectives of billionaire Elon Musk, whom President Donald Trump tapped to lead the “Department of Government Efficiency.”

“President Trump has allowed an unelected billionaire with no constitutional authority to intimidate the civil servants who keep our government running in an attempt to push them out of their jobs,” Platkin said in the statement. “Federal workers have protections that do not change when a new president takes office.”

Within the first two weeks of the Trump administration, Platkin has challenged the president on other matters. New Jersey and 22 other states filed a lawsuit amid last week’s federal funding freeze that left Pennsylvania officials scrambling. And Platkin’s office joined 12 other states in denouncing Trump’s dismantling of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.

When asked if Platkin would be pursuing any legal action against this program, a spokesperson for the attorney general said there were no additional details to share at this time.

Staff writer Ariana Perez-Castells contributed to this article.