A federal judge on Wednesday lifted the temporary freeze on President Trump’s ‘buyout’ offer to federal workers as the administration looks to shrink the workforce.
A union which represents hundreds of thousands of federal workers and others sued last week to stop the deferred buyout offer’s February 6 deadline.
But Massachusetts District Judge George O’Toole ruled the unions lack standing to challenge the directive and are not directly impacted by it.
O’Toole, a President Clinton appointee, lifted the temporary restraining order on Tuesday.
‘Aggrieved employees can bring claims through the administrative process,’ he also wrote.
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and other unions sued ahead of the February 6 deadline for federal workers to accept the Trump administration’s ‘deferred resignation’ offer last week.
The deadline was placed on hold temporarily while a hearing was held on Monday.
The ruling on Wednesday comes as billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team are trying to cut down the federal workforce as part of their directive to save $2 trillion in federal spending. But their effort may prove difficult.
A federal judge on Wednesday lifted the temporary freeze on President Trump’s ‘buyout’ offer to federal workers
A union which represents hundreds of thousands of federal workers and others sued last week to stop the deferred buyout offer’s February 6 deadline
More than 65,000 workers had accepted the offer as of Friday, according to an administration official familiar with the matter even as the deadline was temporarily paused in court.
DOGE estimated between five and 10 percent of government workers would take the offer and that it would save an estimated $100 billion a year.
But just over three percent of workers had taken the administration up on the as the deadline was paused.
The offer as presented by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) gave all federal workers the option to resign from their current position but remain on the payroll with all benefits until September 30.
The email gave notice that most federal employees were to return to work at offices five days a week. For those who took the offer, they would be exempted from in-person work requirements.
Federal workers were first sent an email with the ‘buyout’ offer on January 28.
But many federal workers and some Democratic lawmakers have raised concerns over the validity of the offer.
Workers were directed to simply send an email from their government accounts with the word ‘Resign’ in the subject line to accept the offer.
Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team are trying to cut down the federal workforce
Just over three percent of workers had taken the administration up on the as the deadline was paused
At the same time, those who opted to stay in their positions were informed by OPM that they could not be given ‘full assurance’ that their position or agency would not be eliminated.
Last week, the AFGE sued to stop the directive’s February 6 deadline claiming the plan is to remove career public service workers and replace them with partisan loyalists. They argued the offer amounts to a threat to employees to resign or face losing their job in the future without compensation.
AFGE’s National President Everett Kelley called Wednesday’s ruling lifting the freeze a ‘setback’ but argued the fight continues and the union’s lawyers would evaluate the decision and determine next steps.
‘Importantly, this decision did not address the underlying lawfulness of the program,’ Kelley said in a statement.
‘We continue to maintain it is illegal to force American citizens who have dedicated their careers to public service to make a decision, in a few short days, without adequate information, about whether to uproot their families and leave their careers for what amounts to an unfunded IOU from Elon Musk,’ he continued.
The offer gave all federal workers the option to resign from their current position but remain on the payroll with all benefits until September 30
More than 65,000 federal workers had accepted the ‘buyout’ deal as of last week as billionaire Elon Musk’s team attempts to cut down the federal workforce
Federal workers reported that the original ‘buyout’ offer was followed up by a series of other emails as the administration increases pressure on workers to take the deal.
But thousands of federal workers have signaled they plan to remain in their positions as long as possible.
Some have been using the offer as a rallying cry to ‘hold the line’ and have warned fellow federal workers not to give in.
