Sponsor
Nicholas A. Langworthy
Representative · R-NY
Representative · R-NY
The bill gives agencies flexibility to tailor voluntary separation payments (capped at six months' pay), improving targeted workforce management but risking unequal treatment across agencies and higher costs for taxpayers if agencies set generous incentives.
Federal agencies can tailor voluntary separation incentives to specific workforce needs because agency heads may set payment amounts (up to the six-month cap).
Individual incentive payments are capped at no more than six months' pay, limiting very large one-time payouts to taxpayers and constraining maximum agency liabilities.
Employees doing similar work at different agencies may receive unequal separation incentives because agencies can set different payment amounts, creating fairness and morale issues.
Increased agency discretion could be used to offer higher incentives than under a fixed formula, raising personnel costs and increasing the burden on taxpayers if widely applied.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Allows agency heads to set the maximum voluntary separation incentive payment up to six months’ pay, replacing a fixed statutory formula.
Official title: To amend section 3523 of title 5, United States Code, to increase the limit on voluntary separation incentive payments, and for other purposes.
Introduced January 27, 2026 by Nicholas A. Langworthy · Last progress January 27, 2026
Gives agency heads discretion to set the maximum voluntary separation incentive (buyout) for federal employees, subject to a statutory cap of no more than six months’ pay determined by the same method used for severance pay limits. It replaces a previously fixed formula for the maximum payment with an agency-set cap constrained by the six-month/pay-rate limit and the §5595(c) pay-determination method.