A federal judge in Massachusetts barred the Trump administration on Thursday from imposing a midnight deadline on federal workers who were offered the chance to take a deferred resignation, pausing the initiative until a hearing on Monday afternoon.
The offer, which had been set to expire at 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, is part of a sweeping effort by President Trump and the billionaire Elon Musk to drastically cut the size of the federal government.
Judge George A. O’Toole Jr. stopped the Office of Personnel Management from carrying out the program, which had been detailed in an email sent to roughly two million federal workers last week, until a hearing scheduled for Monday afternoon.
The “Fork in the Road” plan offered federal workers the chance to resign and be paid through the end of September. Labor unions had challenged the legality of the program and urged employees not to accept the offer.
“I enjoin the defendants from taking action to implement the so-called Fork directive, pending the completion of briefing and oral argument on the issues,” the judge said.
It remains unclear how the pause will affect tens of thousands of federal employees who had already signed up to resign through the program.
More than 40,000 federal workers have accepted the offer, Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, told reporters on Thursday as the judge’s ruling was being issued. She said the number was expected to increase. “We encourage federal workers in this city to accept the very generous offer,” she said, adding, “We’ll find highly competent individuals who want to fill these roles.”
Three government unions — the American Federation of Government Employees; the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees; and the National Association of Government Employees — and the liberal nonprofit group Democracy Forward had sued to block the deferred resignation plan, which they called legally unsound.
“Civil service members deserve more than one-sided ultimatums and misleading schemes,” said Skye Perryman, the chief executive of Democracy Forward. “We are grateful for the court’s ruling today, pausing Trump’s unlawful ultimatums and protecting our federal employees.”
In recent days, federal officials have intensified pressure on civil servants to take the deal, warning about the likelihood of staff reductions in the coming months as they stressed the legitimacy of the offer.
Judge O’ Toole told lawyers for both sides to prepare to argue the case on its merits on Monday at 2 p.m., a hearing that could determine the program’s status.
The offer, which had been set to expire at 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, is part of a sweeping effort by President Trump and the billionaire Elon Musk to drastically cut the size of the federal government.
Judge George A. O’Toole Jr. stopped the Office of Personnel Management from carrying out the program, which had been detailed in an email sent to roughly two million federal workers last week, until a hearing scheduled for Monday afternoon.
The “Fork in the Road” plan offered federal workers the chance to resign and be paid through the end of September. Labor unions had challenged the legality of the program and urged employees not to accept the offer.
“I enjoin the defendants from taking action to implement the so-called Fork directive, pending the completion of briefing and oral argument on the issues,” the judge said.
It remains unclear how the pause will affect tens of thousands of federal employees who had already signed up to resign through the program.
More than 40,000 federal workers have accepted the offer, Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, told reporters on Thursday as the judge’s ruling was being issued. She said the number was expected to increase. “We encourage federal workers in this city to accept the very generous offer,” she said, adding, “We’ll find highly competent individuals who want to fill these roles.”
Three government unions — the American Federation of Government Employees; the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees; and the National Association of Government Employees — and the liberal nonprofit group Democracy Forward had sued to block the deferred resignation plan, which they called legally unsound.
“Civil service members deserve more than one-sided ultimatums and misleading schemes,” said Skye Perryman, the chief executive of Democracy Forward. “We are grateful for the court’s ruling today, pausing Trump’s unlawful ultimatums and protecting our federal employees.”
In recent days, federal officials have intensified pressure on civil servants to take the deal, warning about the likelihood of staff reductions in the coming months as they stressed the legitimacy of the offer.
Judge O’ Toole told lawyers for both sides to prepare to argue the case on its merits on Monday at 2 p.m., a hearing that could determine the program’s status.
