“Don’t be fooled,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) said Tuesday on the Senate floor. “He’s tricked hundreds of people with that offer. If you accept that offer and resign, he’ll stiff you just like he stiffed the contractors. He doesn’t have any authority to do this.”

Tim Kaine tells federal employees to ignore Trump’s offer to quit w/ pay for months. “Don’t be fooled. He’s tricked hundreds of people w/ that offer. If you accept that offer & resign he’ll stiff you just like he stiffed the contractors. He doesn’t have any authority to do this.” pic.twitter.com/iQI3a8grRG

— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) January 29, 2025

“You were here before he was here, and you’ll be here after he was here,” said Kaine, who was running mate to Hillary Clinton during her failed 2016 presidential run against Trump.

Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters she expects between 5% and 10% of federal employees to accept the offer, which includes full pay through Sept. 30 for any employees who agree to resign by next Thursday.

“If [federal employees] don’t want to work in the office and contribute to making America great again, then they are free to choose a different line of work,” Leavitt said, “and the Trump Administration will provide a very generous payout of eight months.”

Kaine himself described the offer as a “sweetheart offer” even while advising federal employees against it. The offer was presented in writing, which would be evidence in any court challenge, but Kaine had argued Trump needed congressional sign-off to make the offer.

The move is tied to Trump’s call to bring federal workers back to the office, offering them a choice either to accept a deferred resignation and be placed on paid administrative leave or, in most cases, return to working in person five days a week.

Along with elected Democrats, federal employee unions are fighting back hard against the offer.

The American Federation of Government Employees says it’s analyzing the situation but warned that “there’s not yet any evidence the administration can or will uphold its end of the bargain.” It is encouraging members to get more information before making a decision.

“This offer should not be viewed as voluntary,” AFGE president Everett Kelley said. “Between the flurry of anti-worker executive orders and policies, it is clear that the Trump administration’s goal is to turn the federal government into a toxic environment where workers cannot stay even if they want to.”

Trump officials hold that taxpayers pay for the salaries of federal government employees and that the workforce must therefore be held to a higher standard. Leavitt claimed that just 6% of federal employees are checking in at their offices, which are also paid for by taxpayers, and that performance standards must be raised.

The Trump White House says that moving government workers back to physical offices and related streamlining efforts can save taxpayers $100 billion annually.

Trump’s move carries a strong imprint of Elon Musk, the billionaire backer now heading Trump’s newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.

The subject line of the email sent to employees says “Fork in the Road,” the name of a piece of art Musk commissioned that sits at Tesla’s Texas headquarters.

The emails provide an easy way for employees to leave their jobs. The first step is to type “resign” into the body of the reply email. The second step? Hit “send.”

According to DOGE, there are few strings on the offer, and employees who are let go can “take the vacation you always wanted,” “just watch movies and chill,” or accept a second job and collect two salaries for most of this year.

Those who elect to stay are expected to adhere to four pillars as a condition of their employment. Those four pillars include returning to the office, reaching “excellence at every level,” a reclassification to at-will status for many government workers, and being a “reliable, loyal, trustworthy” workforce.

“Employees will be subject to enhanced standards of suitability and conduct as we move forward,” the email reads. “Employees who engage in unlawful behavior or other misconduct will be prioritized for appropriate investigation and discipline, including termination.”