A federal judge said Wednesday that the Trump administration’s deferred resignation program for federal workers could move forward, allowing the White House to advance a key part of its plan to reduce the federal work force through mass payouts.
Judge George A. O’Toole Jr., a U.S. District Court judge in the District of Massachusetts, did not weigh in on the program’s legality. The judge instead ruled that the plaintiffs, which included unions representing federal workers, were not directly affected by the incentive plan, known as “Fork in the Road,” and lacked standing to challenge it.
“The unions do not have the required direct stake in the Fork directive,” Judge O’Toole wrote, adding that they were “challenging a policy that affects others, specifically executive branch employees.”
“This is not sufficient” for standing, he wrote in his five-page decision.
The unions challenging the plan had sought a temporary restraining order to block the plan from going forward. In his ruling, Judge O’Toole added that precedent from previous cases showed that the court did not have subject matter jurisdiction to consider the unions’ claims.
The decision was a win for the Trump administration, which has been stymied by a series of other court rulings in recent days that have slowed efforts to freeze federal spending and put significant numbers of employees on leave.
Earlier this week, the federal government informed its work force that the deadline had been extended indefinitely, and was still signing up workers to participate while the judge deliberated the case.
The administration immediately moved on Wednesday to close the program to new applicants, as it had sought with a previous deadline of last Thursday.
“The Office of Personnel Management has closed the Trump administration’s resignation program,” said McLaurine Pinover, a spokeswoman for the agency.
The suit to stop the program, filed by the liberal nonprofit group Democracy Forward as well as three government unions — the American Federation of Government Employees, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, and the National Association of Government Employees — argued that the offer was unlawful, in part because Congress had not already appropriated the funds needed to compensate the workers who took up the offer.
In a statement, the leader of A.F.G.E., the largest federal employee union, noted that the ruling did not address the legality of the resignation program and said that the union’s lawyers were considering their next steps.
“Today’s ruling is a setback in the fight for dignity and fairness for public servants,” said Everett Kelley, the union’s president.
Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, who has led an aggressive attempt to shrink and reshape federal government institutions with the approval of President Trump, had pushed employees to take the resignation incentive offer, which promised pay through September.
Critics had argued that the offer was not trustworthy, in particular because Congress had not funded any part of the federal government past March 14.
About 65,000 government employees had volunteered for the payout program as of last Thursday, the initial deadline to sign up, representing less than 3 percent of the civilian federal work force.
That is well short of the stated goal of the Trump administration to drastically reduce the size of the federal work force. In any given year, more than 5 percent of the federal work force will either retire or quit their jobs, according to data from the federal government.
Still, the mass resignation of tens of thousands of government employees could have far-reaching effects on American society.
Routine activities like traveling, renewing passports or filing for a tax return could be delayed or disrupted. The operation of national parks and museums, and the administration of benefits like Social Security, Medicare, veterans’ care and food stamps could also be affected. Regulators and inspectors for food, water, drugs and workplace safety could also leave the government.
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