Two months after the initial “Fork in the Road” emails were sent to federal employees across the government, numerous agencies have begun rolling out independent, agency-specific deferred resignation programs — separate from the DOGE-led effort that sparked court challenges and outrage from critics, according to emails and sources with knowledge of the plans.
The Pentagon is seen from the air in Washington, Mar. 3, 2022.
Joshua Roberts/Reuters
Last week, the Department of Defense announced its own DRP, offering civilian employees the opportunity to resign with full pay and benefits through Sept. 30.
Over the last few days, other agencies have begun offering similar programs, including the Department of Energy, the General Services Administration, the Small Business Administration, the Department of Transportation, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, according to internal emails reviewed by ABC News.
A letter to HUD employees this week announcing its program, calling it “DPR 2,” acknowledged that employees were skeptical of the “validity” of the initial rollout of the deferred resignation program given it was during Congress’ budget negotiations, which prevented some from participating.
Agencies are setting different deadlines to accept the offers — the Department of Transportation set a deadline of just before midnight on April 7, HUD is giving employees until April 11 and GSA is giving employees until April 18.
-ABC News’ Will Steakin and Soo Rin Kim