Members of the Virginia congressional delegation are in an unusual position in the opening days of the Trump administration — they are now career counselors for their constituents.
Federal employees have already been the subject of sweeping orders from the Trump administration, including efforts to strip protections from career employees and to bring remote workers back to in-person. On Tuesday, the administration offered buyout packages for employees who don’t want to stay on to work for a “reformed federal workforce.”
“It’s a time of lots of anxiety,” said Rep. Don Beyer, who represents a district that has an outsize population of federal employees. “The advice I’m giving folks: Wait and see.”
Like other lawmakers, Beyer said he is fielding a number of calls from constituents who are nervous about the offer and what payment could look like if they accept. He said the Virginia delegation is uniquely positioned to advocate for federal workers, given the proximity to Washington and how many of the workers live in their districts.
In a speech on the Senate floor on Tuesday, Sen. Tim Kaine said the resignation offer is one of Trump’s “tricks” and warned employees against accepting because “he’ll stiff you.”
When asked if he felt the Virginia delegation was better positioned to message about the efforts to reduce the federal workforce, Kaine told NOTUS, “I don’t know, best. But I’m fighting against it.”
Virginia lawmakers are not the only ones concerned — unions have also given guidance to be wary of the offers, including the American Federation of Government Employees.
These efforts have been part of President Donald Trump and his allies’ broader ambition to try to shrink the size of the federal government. In a Frequently Asked Questions page, the Office of Personnel Management said that people who take the offers — which employees have until Feb. 6 to accept — will not be expected to work and be paid through September.
The New York Times reported there’s a lack of clarity around the authority the Trump administration has to push forward with the buyouts, including that administrative leave is limited to 10 days per year.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment, but several lawmakers anticipated legal challenges.
“We’re assuming that there are going to have to be some legal modifications to ensure that it’s successful,” Rep. Ben Cline, a Republican, told NOTUS. “Nothing’s easy in the federal bureaucracy, especially efforts to streamline and reform, so it may take a few steps, and I’m happy to help stand ready as a legislator to help make whatever changes are necessary to make that possible.”
Still, Cline said federal employees should think of the offer as an “opportunity.”
Other members of the Virginia delegation had a very different take and worried about the long-term ramifications of workers with years of expertise draining out of the federal workforce.
“I am telling folks who are asking about these settlement payments that they should want to stay and that we will continue to fight for them,” Rep. Suhas Subramanyam told NOTUS. “Is the federal government perfect? No, but these programs are in place and authorized by Congress for a reason.”
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Amelia Benavides-Colón is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow. Mark Alfred contributed reporting.