SEC Offers $50K in Buyouts for Resigning, Retiring Employees: Bloomberg

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is extending an offer of $50,000 to eligible employees who depart the agency by April 4, Bloomberg reported Monday.

The announcement reflects the Trump Administration’s efforts to overhaul the SEC as part of sweeping changes to the Federal government.

The SEC, which had pursued multiple enforcement actions against crypto firms and protocols under the Biden administration, has been a Trump target as he seeks to fulfill campaign promises to the industry that overwhelmingly supported him. 

SEC Chief Operating Officer Ken Johnson announced the buyouts to his staffers last Friday in an email reviewed by Bloomberg. The program calls for participating SEC employees to transfer to another federal agency, resign or retire, the publication reported. 

The deadline to apply for the voluntary separation incentive or voluntary early retirement program is March 21, according to the email. Only employees that have been on the agency’s payroll before Jan. 24 are eligible for the buyout. 

Operating at a deficit, the Securities Commission has faced mounting pressures in recent years to trim its operating costs. Last year, the Commission cut its contributions to employee benefits in a bid to mitigate the impact of its growing staffing costs on its bottom line, according to the SEC’s 2024 financial report. 

The proposed buyouts come as Trump’s second administration moves ahead with an aggressive cost-cutting agenda. 

That initiative, led by billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), claims to be saving taxpayers money, although the group has offered little substantiated proof to date of its success.

Savings so far have allegedly come from massive staffing reductions at federal agencies such as the Department of Education and Environmental Protection Agency, in addition to federal agency subscription cuts and contract cancellations, and non-governmental agency cuts.