The last thing Shane Poole wanted was to turn his back on the military life he loves. But Poole, an Air Force veteran who now works as a civilian trainer, says he’s lost all trust in the government as President Donald Trump pushes a now-or-never buyout on federal workers and Democrats seem powerless to stop him.
Poole had been dedicated to his team of 77 and the service branch he’s served since he was 18. But the Trump blitz on government employees changed his mind.

He is one of a reported 60,000 federal employees who have accepted the unprecedented buyout offer, which is on hold pending a court hearing Monday.
“What’s frustrating is that this administration has portrayed people like myself as the enemy to the American people. We are portrayed as lazy, incompetent, low productivity,” said Poole, 41, the lead instructional systems specialist at the Hill Air Force Base in Utah. “It’s hurtful to see people cheering this on.”
More than a dozen federal employees told USA TODAY about their decisions to stay or go. Few were willing to go on the record, saying they were concerned about retribution. Some said they feared their buyout offers might be rescinded if they are quoted in the media.

They’re weighing questions about mortgages, health care and college tuition, versus whether they could walk away with nothing if they stay and the administration follows through on threats of furloughs and layoffs.
The buyout offer is part of billionaire Elon Musk’s efforts to streamline and downsize the government through the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, a task force created by Trump after his 2024 election victory.

The administration on Tuesday warned federal employees they could be furloughed if they do not accept the buyout and that “the majority of federal agencies will be downsized,” with the Defense Department as an exception.
More than more 2 million federal employees nationwide had been ordered to decide by the end of the day Thursday whether to resign or stay in their jobs.