Possible VERA coming in 90 days, after the Hiring Freeze EO expires?
If you read the text of the hiring freeze order, it expires in 90 days, with a rather vague language of agency heads, DOGE, OPM, etc that after the 90 day freeze expires, they "shall submit a plan to reduce the size of the Federal Government’s workforce through efficiency improvements and attrition".
The easiest, most logical way is offering a VERA of course, which would target folks within a few years of retiring anyway, allowing the gov't to get rid of the most senior folks making the most money. They could certainly expand it from 20 years/age 50 to 15 years/age 45 and cast an even wider net, though I'm not sure if that could be a simple rule change at OPM, or if it would require legislation to do that.
Certainly VERAs are easy to offer and gives the most bang for the buck, as far as reducing staff and budget quickly. RIFs are far more complex and in the end, only get rid of the most junior people making the least amount of money.
Anyone's thoughts? Will you take a VERA if offered?