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A federal judge has dissolved a restraining order that blocked Donald Trump’s administration from offering “deferred resignations” to tens of thousands of government employees, opening the door for the administration to resume the so-called “buyout” plan in the president’s efforts to gut the federal workforce.
A temporary order from Massachusetts District Judge George O’Toole had blocked the administration from making an offer that officials claimed would place them on paid leave through September 30 with no expectation of working in that time.
A lawsuit from unions representing roughly 800,000 workers argued that they were forced into an “arbitrary, unlawful, short-fused ultimatum,” with a looming deadline to respond to an email blasted to virtually every federal employee.
The American Federation of Government Employees and other unions argued that the Office of Personnel Management lacked authority to implement the program.
On Wednesday, O’Toole lifted his restraining order, arguing that the unions do not have legal standing to challenge the administration’s directive and that his court lacked jurisdiction to act.
Roughly 65,000 people, about 3 percent of the federal workforce, had already accepted the buyout, as of last Friday.
Wednesday’s decision throws more chaos into a volatile three-week period for federal employees, who now must decide whether to accept the offer or keep their position with no guarantee that they will be axed by an administration that is trying to slash payrolls across government agencies.
Trump has deputized Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest man, to make recommendations for drastic cuts across government agencies through his “Department of Government Efficiency” crew — actions now facing a mountain of lawsuits.
January’s “Fork in the Road” email — echoing a similar message to Twitter employees when Musk bought the platform and shredded the workforce — was sent to nearly every federal employee.
Workers are “most welcome to stay at home and relax or to travel to your dream destination. Whatever you would like,” according to the Office of Personnel Management’s website.
Employees who did not take the offer were not guaranteed they would keep their jobs.
Last week, a Trump-appointed federal judge granted a temporary restraining order that blocks the administration from placing roughly 2,200 aid workers on administrative leave, hours before the administration was set to send them packing at midnight Friday.
Unions representing nearly 2,000 U.S. Agency for International Development employees had filed a lawsuit against Trump and administration officials one day earlier allowing an unprecedented attack against the global aid agency, which supports dozens of life-saving missions in more than 100 countries.
The agency’s global workforce could reduced to roughly 600 employees.
