Nick Gioia was terminated from the U.S. Department of Agriculture in February as part of President Donald Trump and tech mogul Elon Musk’s effort to slash the size and cost of the federal government.
Gioia was then reinstated and placed on paid leave after a court ruling. Now, after a second round of buyout offers were emailed in recent days to government workers in at least half a dozen federal agencies, the U.S. Army veteran decided to take it.
“For some of us, the time has come to step away before this experience completely erodes what remains of our well-being,” Gioia told Reuters.
Several other federal employees told Reuters they are taking this second buyout offer, saying that many civil servants are suffering from nervous exhaustion after three months of chaos and cuts driven by Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
I am a government worker who was supposed to get a promotion at the start of this year.
Not anymore after the hiring freeze!
Now my pay is stagnant and I will be losing money while working full time by the end of the year.
The really annoying part is I don’t want a new job, I want my promotion and COL adjustment, and to keep supporting the program I’m working in.
We’re going to lose so much when people like you leave, but some people only learn by pain, and the rest of us are along for the ride. That you for your work though, friend.