I hope this can go to all my fellow employees:
This letter reads like a scam and a threat. A scam is where you promise to pay someone and never do. The threat is we will be fired.
The truth stated clearly: Congress is in charge of spending, not the OPM. This is in our Constitution.
In less basic terms:
https://www.oyez.org/cases/1989/88-1943
"Does receipt of erroneous information from a government employee entitle a claimant to benefits he would not otherwise receive?" "No."
I looked up "twitter musk lawsuits". The person making the offer has run scams before. The time pressure (two weeks) also feels bad.
This feels like a scam to me.
We have many civil protections and union agreements. I do not know how real the threat is. I do know that OPM likely-director Vought has said the goal is to traumatize federal employees, and I feel our collective fear and uncertainty. I believe the way through trauma is to live our experiences with other people, so I am saying:
I am here. I see you, and I offer my shoulder, my ear, my silly internet videos.
Thank you to our leadership and Director Ng who are supporting us through this time, and thanks to all of you for being here with me.