Trump’s ultimatum to federal workers: Return to office ‘or be terminated’

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that federal employees must return to in-person work by early February or “be terminated,” the latest in a string of actions announced by the new administration as it looks to crack down on remote work. 

Trump addressed the changes Wednesday at the White House shortly before signing into law the immigration-focused Laken Riley bill.

Asked about the new requirements for federal workers, Trump said, “We’re requiring them to show up to work or be terminated.”

His remarks come just hours after the Office of Personnel Management, or OPM, began emailing the roughly 2 million federal employees on Tuesday, offering them the equivalent of a buyout if they do not return to in-person work within a specified time frame. 

Employees have until Feb. 6 to decide whether to take the buyouts, OPM said, noting that most employees will be required to show up in-person five days a week.

Individuals who choose not to continue their roles in-person would be provided with what the email said would be a “dignified, fair departure from the federal government utilizing a deferred resignation program.”

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Employees who resign were also told they will retain all pay and benefits regardless of workload, and will be exempt from in-person work requirements until Sep. 30, 2025.

“We think a very substantial number of people will not show up to work, and therefore our government will get smaller and more efficient,” Trump told reporters of the plan Wednesday. “And that’s what we’ve been looking to do for many, many decades.”

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He also suggested that federal employees may be asked to “prove” they did not have another job during the period of remote work— a difficult issue to correct for, given that an estimated 8.6 million U.S. residents work multiple jobs—or roughly 5.2% of the U.S. workforce, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“We may ask these people to prove that they didn’t have another job during their so-called employment with the United States of America, because if they did, that would be unlawful,” Trump said.

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 “A lot of people are getting paychecks, but they’re actually working other jobs, so they’ll have to prove that to us that they weren’t,” Trump said.

Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner contributed to this article.