The Central Intelligence Agency on Tuesday offered buyouts to its entire workforce, following a similar “Fork in the Road” offer sent last week to nearly all 2.3 million civilian employees of the federal government. Workers who take the buyout would be eligible for full pay and benefits through the end of September — though the legality of the offers has been questioned and some have expressed skepticism that the Trump administration will uphold its end of the agreement. “There’s no statutory authority that I can see for the president making this offer,” Sen. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat, told The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the CIA offer.
The employee buyouts are part of a Trump effort to dramatically scale back the size of government — following a playbook that closely resembles that used by Elon Musk after he bought Twitter. CIA representatives told news outlets that the offers are meant to bring “renewed energy” to the agency and ensure that its workforce is aligned with the Trump administration’s priorities.