The federal judge who paused the Trump administration’s offer of mass buyouts for government workers will hear arguments Monday afternoon about the legality of the “deferred resignation” program.
More than 60,000 federal employees had reportedly taken the buyout offer when Judge George O’Toole Jr. issued a nationwide injunction last Thursday, pausing the program just hours before the deadline for workers to accept it.
In response, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management shifted that deadline to Monday at 11:59 p.m. ET, while assuring that the program “is NOT being blocked or canceled.”
O’Toole, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, in Monday’s hearing will consider arguments from a handful of employee unions and the Trump administration about whether to block the plan from resuming.
The unions in court filings slammed the buyout plan as an “unlawful ultimatum,” calling it a “sweeping and stunningly arbitrary action to solicit blanket resignations of federal workers.” They are asking O’Toole for a temporary restraining order while they seek additional relief from the courts.
The Trump administration told the judge that the buyouts are a key piece of President Donald Trump‘s efforts to overhaul the federal work force, and argued that pausing the deadline would have “remarkably disruptive and inequitable repercussions.”
The hearing in U.S. District Court in Boston is set for 2 p.m. ET.
The roughly two million federal employees eligible for the buyout offer have been encouraged to accept it by Elon Musk, the head of Trump’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency, which aims to slash the size of the federal bureaucracy.
The offer — made in a Jan. 28 email from OPM titled “Fork in the Road” — gave federal workers the option to immediately resign, and retain pay and benefits until Sept. 30.
To take the offer, they simply had to reply to the email by Feb. 6 with the word “Resign.”
The unprecedented ultimatum quickly raised concerns about whether the Trump administration’s plan was lawful.
Some legal experts said that since Congress has only appropriated funds through March 14, the Trump administration is making payment promises that it cannot guarantee.
And some federal officials have flagged concerns that department secretaries may be able to rescind employees’ deferred resignation packages after they are accepted, leaving those workers without pay. OPM has denied that, pointing to a memo declaring that the government’s assurances are binding.
This is developing news. Please check back for updates.
