The buyout is part of a government overhaul, which is being led by Trump's billionaire adviser Elon Musk. It has resulted in purges of personnel in a number of departments and has significantly scaled down America's main humanitarian aid agency, the U.S. Agency for International Development.
More cuts are likely. One source at the Office of Personnel Management said officials upped their demand for layoffs Wednesday from 30% to 70% of all staff.
Trump's lieutenants at the Justice Department have already fired prosecutors who worked on cases involving Jan. 6, 2021, and have demanded the names of up to 6,000 FBI agents who were involved.