ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Maryland's Attorney General is joining almost a dozen other states in warning federal employees about President Donald Trump's buyout offer.
Attorney General Anthony Brown's office did not threaten any specific action - unlike the lawsuit last week after Trump's planned freeze on federal funds and grants.
The new statement on the "deferred resignation" memo sent to federal employees (which says they will be paid through Sept. 30, if they resign by Feb. 6) just warns employees not to take the offer and to listen to their unions.
Brown called the offer "vague," while New York Attorney General Letitia James said:
These supposed offers are not guaranteed.
Maryland has among the most federal employees in the country. More than 158,000 Marylanders worked for the federal government in 2023 - about a third of all Marylanders who work in the public sector. (A Congressional report listed about 143,000 federal civilian employees in Maryland in 2024.)
RELATED | President Donald Trump issues executive order to send federal workers back to office
Attorneys general from 12 states, including Maryland, issued warnings about the buyout offer.
Federal employee unions blasted the offer, saying it's not a "buyout nor is it a Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment" and that "there is no certainty that the statements made in the OPM Program documents will be legally enforceable."
