DLI and NPS employees wait to hear if they can resign amid federal chaos.

Over 100 civilian federal employees at the Defense Language Institute and an unknown number at the Naval Postgraduate School, both located in Monterey, have applied for deferred resignation as a result of receiving “fork in the road” letters from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on Jan. 28, one week after President Donald Trump took office. As of Tuesday, Feb. 25, there was no word if those applications had been approved.

The number of DLI employees is according to Dennis Hickman, union representative for the American Federation of Government Employees Local 1263. (DLI officials did not respond.) The number includes all types of employees, including instructors who teach enlisted military members nine foreign languages critical to the U.S. military’s mission, including Russian and Mandarin. Managers can deny an application if the employee is deemed too important to lose.

AFGE national officials cautioned members about applying, noting that the OPM offer was “riddled with inconsistencies and uncertainties,” and said it was unclear if it was legal. They also said there was no guarantee that the continued pay and benefits offered through Sept. 30 would materialize. The leaders of the National Federation of Federal Employees – Local 1690 represents NPS employees – told its members not to apply for similar reasons.

One DLI instructor who applied says they did it as a way out of what they call “an absolutely toxic” work environment, something multiple instructors have told the Weekly in recent years. (The Weekly is not identifying the instructor because they have not heard if they have been approved for resignation.)

“That’s why people want to take this,” the instructor says. “But not as many people are taking it as you would think because they don’t trust the government to follow through.”

How many NPS employees have applied for resignation is unknown. An NPS spokesperson deferred to the Navy’s Chief of Information at the Pentagon and a spokesperson there says it’s too early to answer.

Meanwhile, chaotic messaging at the top of the federal government is leaving federal workers wondering what will happen next. On Saturday, Feb. 22, employees received an OPM email, entitled “What did you do last week?” asking workers for five bullet points of tasks accomplished. Elon Musk, who leads the Department of Government Efficiency, aka DOGE, further stoked fears by posting to social media that failure to comply by a Feb. 24 deadline would be taken as an immediate resignation.

“Is this shit real?” Hickman wrote in an email to other AFGE representatives in California, in the wake of the OPM request.

NFFE leaders believe the email and Musk’s threat are illegal. By Monday, Feb. 24, the departments of Defense, State, Energy, Homeland Security and Justice directed employees not to comply. OPM announced it was “voluntary.” A coalition of unions that includes AFGE filed a legal action against the order.