Deadline for Trump’s federal worker buyout proposal temporarily blocked by judge
Washington – A federal judge temporarily blocked the Office of Personnel Management on Thursday to allow federal employees to accept a Trump administration’s “deferred resignation” proposal.
U.S. District Court Judge George O’Toole in a brief hearing, the agency may not execute the program’s deadline to inform OPM whether they will accept or Rejecting a proposal to leave his position.
A Justice Department attorney said OPM will provide notice to federal employees that the deadline will be suspended pending further legal action. An OPM official told CBS News that agencies “will still be able to handle resignations until the deadline for this new court order.”
The Personnel Management Office issued e-mail Last week, the subject line’s “fork” More than 2 million federal employees provided “Deferred resignation.” Under the plan, they can resign and retain full salary and benefits until September 30. Face-to-face job requirements The email said by September.
Employees have previously had to accept or reject the offer by February 6. The program cannot be provided to military, U.S. Postal Service employees or personnel related to immigration and national security, OPM said.
For those who choose to maintain their positions, the OPM message states that the Trump administration cannot “fully guarantee the certainty of your position or agency.” It also noted that as part of Trump’s efforts to reform the federal workforce, “most federal agencies may effectively reduce the scale through restructuring, restructuring and reduction.”
exist List In a “frequently asked questions” about the offer, the agency said workers who accepted the proposed buyout would not expect to work in their government jobs during the deferred resignation period and would be allowed to obtain a second job.
According to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, about 40,000 federal workers, or about 2% of the government’s workforce, accepted the deal. But the White House expects that number to rise.
A few days after OPM made the offer, a team of four unions sued the agency and its acting director Charles Ezell, on behalf of 800,000 federal employees, arguing that the so-called forklift directive, as the union said, Violated federal law.
“If these employees leave or are forced into a large number of forced forces, the country will suffer a dangerous one or two punches,” the union said in the complaint. “First, the government will lose its professionalism in complex areas and plans that the executives are instructed faithfully to implement in the regulations. Knowledge. The government will have fewer qualified employees to perform the statutory event tasks that are still retained. Secondly. The vacant position is politicized, and as this government seeks to do so, the party’s capabilities and truth are growing higher and higher, and the Agent Mission and the American People.”
They noted that federal agencies’ funds are scheduled to expire on March 14, and after that date, Congress has no grants to pay government workers.
They asked the judge to block the OPM from executing the February 6 deadline.
OPM email subject line with billionaire Elon Musk “Special Government Employee” Leading the White House Ministry of Government Efficiency, Or Duoge, President Trump was established to cut spending and reorganize federal agencies.
The proposed buyout from the Trump administration has raised concerns among lawyers because its components are unclear and lack of guarantees, several told CBS News. It is unclear that the Trump administration has the right to create such a program, as the union points out in the legal challenge.
More than a dozen state attorneys generals also warned federal employees not to accept what they said was a “misleading” proposal for resignation.
The deferred resignation program is one of several initiatives by Mr. Trump to return to the White House, which aims to cut the size of the federal government. president order Thousands of federal workers return to the office full time and guide agencies to end remote work arrangements.
His government also targets American International Development AgencyOrusid, Place almost all employees Take a leave and order its overseas missions to close.
Contributed to this report.
