President Donald Trump's plan to reduce the federal workforce through deferred resignations is facing sharp criticism from labor unions.
About two million federal employees are being given the option to resign and continue being paid through September. Exceptions include military personnel, postal workers, and immigration enforcement or national security employees.
Those who choose to stay are being asked to return to the office full-time. And Andy O'Brien, a spokesperson for the AFL-CIO, said the Trump administration's return-to-work policy will negatively affect Maine families.
"People have been working for many years, remotely, and doing it well," O'Brien said. "People I know who work here in Maine are being told they have to sell their house, take their kids out of school and go work in some office where they haven't worked."
O'Brien said there are plenty of union protections in federal labor contracts and it's not clear Trump's offer is legal.
Linda Deane is president of the AFL-CIO Western Maine Labor Council. She's retired but worried about getting her Social Security checks after the workforce is reduced.
"We've always had a certain amount of people doing this work. If those people are gone who's going to process our social security," she said.
In a statement, Everett Kelley of the American Federation of Government employees said, "Purging the federal government...will have vast, unintended consequences that will cause chaos for the Americans who depend on a functioning federal government."
The deferred resignations are reportedly expected to save $100 billion.
The last day for workers to accept the Trump Administration's offer is February 6.