Agency leadership told employees they were exempt.
A TSA checkpoint (Photo: Shutterstock | David Tran Photo)
Workers at the Transportation Security Administration are not allowed to participate in early buyouts offered to the federal workforce. According to a Bloomberg report, agency leadership told employees they were exempt two days after the Jan. 28 “Fork in the Road” email.
It’s been reported that around 20,000 federal workers have opted in to the buyouts, representing 1% of the federal workforce – excluding the military, the U.S. Postal Service, and a few other categories. Employees who do not accept the buyouts could be terminated.
“Today, DHS Acting Under Secretary for Management provided updated guidance that TSA employees are not allowed to participate in deferred resignation,” the TSA administrator’s office stated in an email to agency employees that was viewed by Bloomberg.
The agency also said it would work with employees who already accepted the offer. TSA workers are exempt because they are part of national security, one official added.
This move comes as buyouts and a federal hiring freeze have created uncertainty within aviation-related agencies. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy recently clarified that air traffic controllers and other safety-related positions at the Federal Aviation Administration are exempt, even after workers received buyout offers.
Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency team plan to “plug in” at the FAA to rapidly modernize systems, Duffy said.
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