More than 100,000 federal workers are to formally resign on Tuesday, the largest such mass event in US history, as part of a Trump administration program designed to make sweeping cuts to the federal workforce.
With Congress facing a deadline of Tuesday to authorize more funding or spark a government shutdown, the White House has also ordered federal agencies to draw up plans for large-scale firings of workers if the partisan fight fails to yield a deal.
Workers preparing to leave the government have described how months of fear and intimidation left them feeling like they had no choice but to depart.
"Federal workers stay for the mission. When that mission is taken away, when they're scapegoated, when their job security is uncertain, and when their tiny semblance of work-life balance is stripped away, they leave..."