A federal judge said Wednesday that the Trump administration’s deferred resignation program for federal workers could proceed, allowing the White House to move forward with a key part of its plan to reduce the federal work force by encouraging mass buyouts.
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, instead stating in his five-page ruling that the incentive plan, known as “Fork in the Road,” did not directly impact the plaintiffs of the lawsuit, which included a number of unions representing federal workers, and so the plaintiffs did not have standing to challenge it.
“The unions do not have the required direct stake in the Fork directive,” Judge O’Toole wrote, adding that they “are challenging a policy that affects others, specifically executive branch employees.”
“This is not sufficient” for standing, he wrote.
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 suit, 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.
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.
Elon Musk, the billionaire tech magnate President Trump deputized to lead the cost-slashing efforts, had pushed employees to take the offer, which promised pay through September for anyone who agreed to resign. Critics had argued that the offer was not trustworthy, especially since Congress has 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. On Monday, 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.
“O.P.M. intends to close the program to new entrants as soon as legally permissible,” the Office of Personnel Management said in an email to federal workers.
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