By Tim Reid, Valerie Volcovici and Ned Parker WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Fearful U.S. government workers weighed whether to take a buyout offer from the Trump administration ahead of a Thursday deadline, as officials pressed ahead with a restructuring effort that could dramatically shrink the U.

Resign or risk being laid off. That was the directive in an email sent to roughly two million federal employees from the US Office of Personal Management on January 28th.

Two million US federal workers face a deadline of Thursday to quit with a guarantee of eight months' more paid work or risk being fired on the spot -- a