DOE Second-Round Deferred Resignation Program

In early April 2025, the Department of Energy (DOE) opened its own second round of the deferred resignation program (DRP), one of at least six agencies to renew the offer that the Office of Personnel Management had first extended government-wide in January. In a message to employees viewed by CNN, Secretary Chris Wright said the program would allow employees to take time for future planning while continuing to be paid through a designated period, and warned that layoffs were coming. Employees had until April 8, 2025 to accept; certain public safety, national security, law enforcement, and other essential positions were ineligible. According to the Office of Personnel Management's publicly available data, the Department of Energy (DOE) lost about 3,033 employees between January 2025 and May 2026. Of these, 1,867 employees were reported as DRP separations.