By Brendan Scanland
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Wednesday evening, a federal judge in Boston dealt a big win for the Trump administration’s efforts to downsize the federal government.
Judge George O’Toole, appointed by former President Bill Clinton, ruled to allow the administration’s “deferred resignation” program, or buyout plan, to proceed.
The deadline was originally scheduled for last week, but it was pushed back after Judge O’Toole issued a temporary restraining order to pause the plan. The temporary injunction came in response to a lawsuit filed by federal workers unions who challenged the legality of the buyout plan.
In his ruling, O’Toole said the unions lacked standing to bring the case in the first place. O’Toole also said he did not have the jurisdiction to stop the program from proceeding.
“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,” said American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) National President Everett Kelley in a press release Wednesday evening. “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.”
The deadline for federal employees to decide whether to stay or go is now closed, following O’Toole’s announcement Wednesday. So far, just under 80,000 federal workers across the country are reported to have accepted the offer by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
