A federal judge extended his pause on the Trump administration’s “deferred resignation” program, which is part of a sweeping effort to push government employees out of their jobs. It's the latest twist in a chaotic and distressing saga playing out for millions of government employees.
In Boston on Monday, U.S. District Judge George A. O’Toole Jr. said the pause will continue "until I respond to the issues presented," he said.
O'Toole blocked the “Fork in the Road” program on Thursday to allow parties in a lawsuit more time to brief arguments. The ruling Thursday came hours before the deadline for workers to apply for the deferred resignation program, which the administration promoted as a buyout. The program is being challenged by several labor unions.
A union leader said Thursday that his organization would continue to fight efforts to push out federal employees.
“We are pleased the court temporarily paused this deadline while arguments are heard about the legality of the deferred resignation program. We continue to believe this program violates the law, and we will continue to aggressively defend our members’ rights,” American Federation of Government Employees National President Everett Kelley said in a statement.
At the White House on Thursday, press secretary Karoline Levitt urged government workers in D.C. to leave.
“We encourage federal workers in this city to accept the very generous offer,” she said. "They don’t want to come into the office. If they want to rip the American people off, then they’re welcome to take this buyout and we’ll find highly qualified people” to replace them.
Labor unions, Democrats and others warn that President Donald Trump and Elon Musk may not hold up their end of the “fork in the road” plan.
About 2 million federal employees received an email on Jan. 28 saying they could agree to leave their jobs and receive about eight months of salary if they sent a one-word reply that said “resign.”
Thousands of federal workers are turning back to in-person work on Monday after President Trump's executive order. News4's Juliana Valencia reports from the Navy Yard in DC and talks to a federal worker about how traffic has changed already.
More than 60,000 employees have indicated they will resign, sources familiar with the plans told NBC News on Thursday. That represented about 3% of the workforce.
A senior administration official previously said Trump officials expected 5 to 10% of the workforce to resign.
