By Timothy Gardner
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -More than 2,600 U.S. Department of Energy staffers have opted to take the Trump administration’s second round of resignation offers, two sources said on Thursday, with offices on power grid stability and loans for high-tech energy projects hit hard.
The number is more than double the 1,217 staffers that took the first round offered in January, according to a document seen by Reuters. The number could go significantly higher in coming weeks as staffers over 40 years of age get an additional 45-day period to consider the offer, one of the sources said.
In January, the administration made a financial offer to 2 million federal workers, including DOE staffers, as part of a broader effort by U.S. President Donald Trump and billionaire ally Elon Musk to shrink the federal government.
The acceptances of resignations at the DOE, which has about 17,000 staffers, occurred as the department said more workers could be let go after the initial round of layoffs.
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright sent a email to department employees this week that said “it is increasingly likely that our department will undergo a wide-ranging RIF (reduction in force) to align with broader strategic priorities outlined by President Trump.”
Wright said in the email that some safety, national security, law enforcement and other essential employees may not be able to take an offer to resign.
A DOE spokesperson said they could not confirm the number of staffers accepting the second round of offers because the deadline to accept them was extended by more than a day to a minute before midnight on Friday. In addition, all requests to take the offer are subject to approval, the spokesperson said.
The sources said most staffers at the Policy Office, the Grid Deployment Office that is responsible for maintenance of the U.S. power grid and the Loan Programs Office which offers low-interest financing to projects on high-tech vehicles, renewable energy, nuclear and transmission that struggle to get bank loans, have taken the offer.
The offices of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains and Clean Energy Deployment have also been hit hard, they said.
(Reporting by Timothy GardnerEditing by Marguerita Choy)
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