Musk tried a similar scheme after his takeover of Twitter. What could go wrong with applying it to millions of federal workers?

President Trump on Wednesday warned that federal workers will have to show up to the office “or be terminated,” framing his administration’s so-called buyout offers to 2 million employees as an

President Donald Trump says the government will offer buyouts to federal workers as part of his effort to shrink the government's workforce.

The Trump administration is offering what amounts to buyouts for federal workers who don’t want to return to the office as part of the president’s breakneck efforts to reshape the government in his second term.

The Trump administration offered federal workers the chance to take a "deferred resignation" with a severance package of roughly eight months of pay and benefits.

US President Donald Trump has offered federal workers the option to resign and receive pay for eight months, in a major effort to shrink and reform the US government. In an email, his administration has asked almost all government employees to decide by 6 February whether they want to be part of a "deferred resignation" programme that will mean them leaving their jobs no later than the end of September.