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Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minuteOn January 28, 2025, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) offered some federal employees the option to resign under a deferred resignation program. OPM said employees who accepted would generally remain on paid administrative leave with pay and benefits through September 30, 2025, unless they separated earlier. The original deadline was February 6, 2025, but eligibility, exceptions and a court pause affected the offer. These were OPM’s stated terms—not a cash buyout available to every federal worker or a guarantee that every employee could participate.
What the deferred resignation offer said
OPM’s January 28, 2025 email presented deferred resignation as an option for eligible federal employees amid the administration’s return-to-office expectations and anticipated workforce changes. Under the offer’s stated terms, an employee who accepted would resign but could remain on paid administrative leave, retaining pay and benefits through September 30, 2025, with the option to separate earlier. OPM set February 6, 2025 as the original acceptance deadline.
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Although often described as a “buyout,” the offer described deferred resignation and paid leave rather than a separate lump-sum payment. OPM’s terms should be understood as the administration’s offer at that time, not as a judicial determination or a universally available entitlement.
Who could accept, and what exceptions applied?
Eligibility could depend on an employee’s agency or position, since some agencies or roles could be exempted. OPM’s FAQ also addressed employees who were on approved absence for some or all of the relevant period: they could request an extension, and agencies could grant reasonable extensions. An extension was not automatic.
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IRS filing-season positions
On February 5, 2025, the Associated Press reported that certain IRS employees in critical filing-season positions were exempted until May 15. That exception applied to the reported positions; it does not establish that all IRS workers, or employees at other agencies, had the same deadline.
Retirement eligibility and applications
OPM’s FAQ discussed employees eligible to retire by December 31, 2025, including conditions concerning separation-date processing. It also said an employee still had to submit a retirement application before the retirement date. Because retirement eligibility and processing depend on individual circumstances, employees considering the offer needed to confirm their situation with their agency benefits staff and consult OPM’s FAQ.
Why the offer faced a legal dispute
In a February 4, 2025 memorandum, OPM asserted that the program was legal. Minority members of the Senate Appropriations Committee publicly questioned the administration’s legal authority and the availability of funding. Those statements represented competing institutional positions; neither, by itself, settled the legal question.
What happened on the February 6 deadline
On February 6, 2025, U.S. District Judge George A. O’Toole Jr. temporarily paused implementation and directed the administration to extend the deadline until a hearing. That was an interim court action, not a final ruling on the program’s legality.
That day, the Associated Press reported that a White House official said 65,000 workers had signed up. The figure was attributed to that official and was not an independently audited final participation total. AFGE President Everett Kelley characterized the offer as “It’s a scam and not a buyout.” That was the union president’s view, not a court finding.
What the available record establishes—and what it does not
The dated information summarized here establishes the offer’s initial terms, exceptions described by OPM or contemporaneous reporting, and the temporary pause ordered on February 6, 2025. It does not establish the eventual litigation outcome, a final participation count, or the complete implementation record. The original deadline and proposed September 30, 2025 pay-and-benefits period are historical terms, not evidence that the offer remains open or that every acceptance was carried out as described.
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