The Trump administration has told around two million federal workers they can resign via email in exchange for a payout.

Under plans to drastically shrink the size of the US government and push out civil servants who do not support the Republican, employees were told they could receive eight months’ pay if they took up the offer.

The email was sent to staff as latest polls suggest Americans have taken a dim view of some of Mr Trump’s early moves, with his approval rating sitting at +7 – the lowest rating of any new president since the Second World War, with the exception of Mr Trump himself in 2016.

Since taking office on Jan 20, the president has attempted to do away with so-called birthright citizenship and rename the Gulf of Mexico.

He has also moved quickly to restrict immigration and scale back the size of government, efforts that respondents to the three-day poll, that closed on Sunday, looked on more favourably.

If accepted, the “deferred resignation program” would place employees on paid administrative leave until Sept 30, according to the email.

However, the memo, from the Office of Personnel Management, also warned of future downsizing and reclassification of many employees to “at-will status”, which would make them easier to fire.

The email, with the subject line “Fork in the Road”, has given federal employees until Feb 6 to decide, instructing those interested to simply reply with the word “resign”.

The government’s human resources agency added that all staff would be subject to “enhanced standards of suitability and conduct” to ensure workers were “reliable, loyal and trustworthy”.