Trump’s Federal Worker Buyout Plan May Fail to Spur Resignations

President Donald Trump’s directives to shrink the federal workforce by next week seeks to make good on his campaign pledge to root out federal workers who aren’t loyal to him and remake the government in his own image.

The reality to get government workers to agree to buyouts is more complicated and could have effects that reverberate far beyond the nation’s capital.

The federal government is a massive, sprawling bureaucracy with nearly 2.3 million civilian employees and a presence in all 50 states. Its programs touch everything from water cleanliness to air travel safety to lunch programs in elementary ...