A federal judge on Thursday paused the Trump administration’s resignation offer to more than two million federal employees less than 12 hours before the deadline.
U.S. District Judge George O’Toole in Boston issued a temporary injunction that would continue until at least a court hearing on Monday.
The court will “consider arguments on the legality of the buyout,” CNBC noted.
Over 60,000 individuals, around 3% of the federal workforce, had accepted the buyout offer before the pause.
“Workers will now have until Monday to accept the deal,” The Hill stated.
BREAKING REPORT: Trump’s buyout offer for federal workers PAUSED BY JUDGE hours before deadline -USA TODAY
— Chuck Callesto (@ChuckCallesto) February 6, 2025
Per CNBC:
He said federal agencies must notify employees who received the buyout offer that the program has been enjoined until Monday.
ADVERTISEMENT“I make no assessment at this stage of the merits of the claims,” O’Toole said during Thursday’s hearing.
The Trump administration earlier Thursday in a mass email to federal employees said that the deadline for accepting the buyout offer would not be extended beyond 11:59 p.m. ET on Thursday.
An Office of Personnel Management spokesperson told NBC News that the agency interprets O’Toole’s order as allowing federal agencies to continue processing resignations. The spokesperson said that if an employee has already accepted a deferred resignation package and their agency allows it, they can begin their paid leave.
The buyout offer, laid out in the so-called Fork Directive, purports to allow employees to submit a deferred resignation, in which they will no longer have to work but will be paid with benefits until the end of September.
“We are pleased the court temporarily paused this deadline while arguments are heard about the legality of the deferred resignation program. We continue to believe this program violates the law, and we will continue to aggressively defend our members’ rights,” American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) President Everett Kelley said in a statement, according to The Hill.
WATCH:
Federal judge in Boston pushes buyout deadline to Monday pic.twitter.com/OqbvCz9gDw
— Karli Bonne’
(@KarluskaP) February 6, 2025
From The Hill:
AFGE, which challenged the offer, had warned against taking it, arguing employees would be left in a lurch.
Their suit argues that the Office of Personnel Management doesn’t have the authority to make such an offer and that the deal’s rollout violates the Administrative Procedures Act.
ADVERTISEMENTIt also takes issue with the lack of guaranteed funding for the offer, saying it violates the Antideficiency Act, which requires government agencies to use funding as intended.
While AFGE’s suit challenges the legality of the offer, the Monday hearing will weigh whether to further block the buyouts as litigation continues.
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