A federal judge on Wednesday declined to pause the Trump administration’s buyout program for government workers, giving President Trump a key win in his push to shrink the size of the federal government.
US District Judge George A. O’Toole ruled that the union groups suing to block the so-called “Deferred Resignation” program lacked standing and that his Massachusetts-based court lacked the jurisdiction to proceed with the lawsuit.
O’Toole, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, temporarily blocked the Office of Personnel Management from moving ahead with the program earlier this week, after unions representing more than 800,000 federal workers charged that that the buyout offers were unlawful.
“The plaintiffs here are not directly impacted by the directive,” the judge ruled. “Instead, they allege that the directive subjects them to upstream effects including a diversion of resources to answer members’ questions about the directive, a potential loss of membership, and possible reputational harm.”
“The unions do not have the required direct stake in the Fork Directive, but are challenging a policy that affects others, specifically executive branch employees,” O’Toole continued. “This is not sufficient.”
OPM had given some 2 million federal workers unwilling to comply with a return-to-office mandate a Feb. 6 deadline to accept about eight months of pay and benefits in exchange for their resignations.
The agency further warned that the buyout offer would not be extended past the deadline and that workers choosing to stay put should expect downsizing, restructurings, realignments and workforce reductions under Trump.
About 65,000 federal workers have accepted the deal, according to the White House.
“OPM is pleased the court has rejected a desperate effort to strike down the Deferred Resignation Program,” OPM spokeswoman McLaurine Pinover told The Post. “As of 7:00 p.m. tonight, the program is now closed.”
“There is no longer any doubt: the Deferred Resignation Program was both legal and a valuable option for federal employees,” she added. “This program was carefully designed, thoroughly vetted, and provides generous benefits so federal workers can plan for their futures.”
OPM had left the program open to resignations after the judge’s initial stay of the deadline.
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), one of the groups attempting to block the program, maintains that the program is illegal despite its lack of standing to sue.
“Today’s ruling is a setback in the fight for dignity and fairness for public servants. But it’s not the end of that fight. AFGE’s lawyers are evaluating the decision and assessing next steps,” AFGE President Everett Kelley said in a statement.
“Importantly, this decision did not address the underlying lawfulness of the program,” Kelley added. “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.”
Certain federal workers, such as members of the military, national security personnel, US Postal Service employees and immigration enforcement and border security personnel have been prevented from taking the buyout.
The Central Intelligence Agency, however, extended the buyout offer to all its workforce last week, arguing that the move will bring the intel agency more in line with the Trump administration’s vision.
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