Federal Workers Hesitate to Take Buyout

WSJ What’s News

The Wall Street Journal

Daily News, News

4.1 • 4.2K Ratings

🗓️ 6 February 2025

⏱️ 14 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

A.M. Edition for Feb. 6. Uncertainty surrounding a buyout deal for U.S. federal workers is deterring many from accepting it, putting the Trump administration at risk of missing a target to trim the government via voluntary measures. Plus, the WSJ’s Lauren Thomas reports that Honeywell, one of America’s last big industrial conglomerates, is preparing a three-way split of its business. And lawmakers push to ban DeepSeek from U.S. government devices over security concerns. Luke Vargas hosts. Sign up for the WSJ’s free What’s News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:27.8	slash setup.
0:32.9	More than 40,000 federal workers take a buyout deal, but the number risks falling short of
0:39.0	the White House's cost-saving target. Plus, U.S. lawmakers move to ban deep seek on government-owned
0:45.5	devices, and a legal battle heats up around President Trump's move to end birthright citizenship.
0:51.3	To actually end birthright citizenship, Trump would need to either amend the Constitution.
0:56.8	That's something that legal experts say would be very difficult.
0:59.7	Or the other option is to go to the Supreme Court and ask the court to endorse his interpretation
1:05.4	of the 14th Amendment.
1:07.1	And this second pathway is what the administration is banking on.
1:10.5	It's Thursday, February 6th.
1:12.6	I'm Luke Vargas for the Wall Street Journal,
1:14.8	and here is the AM edition of What's News,
1:17.7	the top headlines and business stories moving your world today.
1:25.5	Today is the final day for American federal government workers to decide whether to take a buyout
1:31.5	offer from the Office of Personnel Management or OPM, part of a broader Trump administration
1:37.1	effort to cut government spending. The White House had said it expected between 5 and 10 percent
1:42.8	of the about 2 million civilian federal
	...

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