A wave of reports in late September 2025 alleged some 100,000 U.S. federal workers resigned from their jobs on one day, sparking confusion and speculation about what caused the purported mass exodus.
Some social media posts framed the alleged departures as suspiciously abrupt. One X post (archived), viewed more than half a million times, stated "nearly 100,000 federal workers" resigned in a single morning, reading:
🚨#BREAKING: Nearly 100,000 federal workers have resigned this morning—marking the largest coordinated resignation in U.S. history.
This was a purge with a check attached.
Something is happening inside the government.
(X user @allenanalysis)
Other posts on social media platforms including X, Facebook and Reddit echoed the narrative.
In short, the claim was factual but missing important context. It was true about 100,000 federal workers resigned on a single day, Sept. 30, 2025. However, it was misleading to frame the departures as abrupt. The workers agreed to resign months prior as part of a voluntary program initiated by President Donald Trump's administration to reduce the federal workforce.
The widely cited figure of around 100,000 federal resignations referred to the number of participants in the Trump administration's Deferred Resignation Program (DRP), an initiative that allowed employees on a volunteer basis over months to transfer their duties, go on administrative leave, and then formally exit government service. Sometimes referred to as the "Fork in the Road" program, the DRP prescribed many workers to officially end their employment on Sept. 30.
In an email to us, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which oversees human resources for the federal government, confirmed that roughly 154,000 federal employees participated in the DRP, and "it's safe to say about 2/3 of those" (or about 103,000) formally left on Sept. 30. The department expects the remaining participants are expected to depart before the end of 2025.
What to know about Deferred Resignation Program
Launched in early 2025, the DRP allowed certain federal employees to resign from their positions by first going on paid administrative leave and then officially ending their employment at a later date, according to the OPM and nonprofit Partnership for Public Service. In other words, participants stopped doing work and gave their responsibilities to colleagues, while still receiving pay and benefits, before officially resigning.
For many program participants, Sept. 30 was the official end to their employment, aligning with the federal fiscal calendar.An email sent to federal employees on Jan. 28 — which was publicly available on OPM's website, as of this writing — described the program as a way to ensure a "dignified, fair departure," stating, "If you resign under this program, you will retain all pay and benefits regardless of your daily workload and will be exempted from all applicable in-person work requirements until September 30, 2025 (or earlier if you choose to accelerate your resignation for any reason)."
An FAQ page by the Department of Health and Human Services said the agency did not expect participants to work during the administrative leave period and encouraged them to begin new jobs or travel during that time.
Why some sources say 154K resignations, not 100K
Several sources cited two different figures — 100,000 or 154,000 — as estimates for how many federal employees resigned on Sept. 30
For example, on Sept. 29, The Guardian reported that more than 100,000 federal workers were set to formally resign the next day, calling it "the largest such mass event in US history."
Meanwhile, other outlets cited the 154,000 figure. A Reuters article published on Sept. 30 reported that 154,000 federal workers exited under the DRP, and The Washington reported on the same day that the government was "paying more than 154,000 federal employees not to work as part of the Trump administration's deferred resignation program."
The varying estimates are a result of OPM officials referencing both numbers when talking about the DPT. For instance, in early August 2025, OPM Director Scott Kupor said in a Fox Business interview that 154,000 employees had opted into the program, and he later told a Washington D.C. TV news station that roughly 100,000 of them would formally resign on Sept. 30.
It's worth noting that the figures differ from earlier estimates provided by the OPM. A July press release by the department stated "hundreds of thousands" of workers would supposedly participate in the program.
Also, in the Fox Business interview, Kupor estimated the federal workforce would shrink overall by approximately 300,000 employees in 2025 — a figure that included not only DRP participants but also what he described as "reductions among probationary employees," "removals," and "other voluntary retirement programs." Several outlets, including NPR, Reuters and New York Times, have reported on that total.