(Headline USA) A federal judge on Wednesday removed a key legal hurdle on Wednesday that was stalling President Donald Trump’s plan to downsize the federal workforce with a deferred resignation program.
U.S. District Judge George O’Toole Jr.’s order in the challenge filed by a group of labor unions was a significant legal victory for the Republican president after a string of courtroom setbacks.
The Boston-based judge, a Bill Clinton appointee, found that the unions weren’t directly affected, so they didn’t have legal standing to challenge the program, commonly described as a buyout.
“This goes to show that lawfare will not ultimately prevail over the will of 77 million Americans who supported President Trump and his priorities,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Another group of unions filed a lawsuit in Washington, D.C., late Wednesday, though its potential impacts were not immediately clear.
About 75,000 federal workers accepted the offer to quit in return for being paid until Sept. 30, according to McLaurine Pinover, a spokesperson for the Office of Personnel Management. She said the deferred resignation program “provides generous benefits so federal workers can plan for their futures,” and it was now closed to additional workers.
American Federation of Government Employees National President Everett Kelley said in a statement that the union’s lawyers were assessing the next steps.
“Today’s ruling is a setback in the fight for dignity and fairness for public servants,” Kelley said. “But it’s not the end of that fight. Importantly, this decision did not address the underlying lawfulness of the program.”
The union continues to maintain that it’s illegal to force American citizens 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 statement said.
The deferred resignation program has been spearheaded by Musk, who is serving as Trump’s top adviser for reducing federal spending overseeing the Department of Government Efficiency. Under the plan, employees can stop working and get paid until Sept. 30.
A Justice Department lawyer has called the plan a “humane off ramp” for federal employees who may have structured their lives around working remotely and have been ordered to return to government offices.
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press
