Judge won't halt Trump, Musk federal worker buyout program

A federal judge declined to further pause a federal government buyout program, enabling the government to forge ahead with its "Fork in the Road" program.

U.S. District Court Judge George O’Toole had extended the time frame for federal employees to decide whether to take the unusual offer, which gives employees eight months of pay and benefits if they wish to depart government.

In a Wednesday ruling, O’Toole found that the unions who had sued over the directive did not have standing to do so.

“The unions do not have the required direct stake in the Fork Directive, but are challenging a policy that affects others, specifically executive branch employees. This is not sufficient,” O’Toole wrote.

The decision allows the Trump administration to close a window to accept the deal that the government originally planned to end on Feb. 6. That deadline was extended while O’Toole weighed a bid by unions to temporarily block the Office of Personnel Management from carrying out the program entirely.

“OPM is pleased the court has rejected a desperate effort to strike down the Deferred Resignation Program. As of 7:00 PM tonight, the program is now closed. There is no longer any doubt: the Deferred Resignation Program was both legal and a valuable option for federal employees,” the agency said in a statement.

“This program was carefully designed, thoroughly vetted, and provides generous benefits so federal workers can plan for their futures."

The White House previously said at least 40,000 federal employees had taken the deal, roughly 2 percent of the 2 million federal workers.

While O’Toole’s ruling spells trouble for the broader challenge from unions to the buyout program, he did not otherwise delve deeply into the legal arguments presented by them in determining they did not have standing.

The American Federation of Government (AFGE), the largest government employee union among those suing, lamented the ruling.

“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. Importantly, this decision did not address the underlying lawfulness of the program,” president Everett Kelley said in a statement.

“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.”

Unions have cautioned employees against taking the offer.

Numerous provisions in the accompanying contract contradict promises made by OPM, leaving unclear whether employees will not have to report to work and will be free to seek outside employment as the agency has claimed.

The offer also comes with legal and logistical challenges.

The government is currently only funded through March, raising concerns over whether funding needed to back commitments to employees will materialize. That dynamic could violate the Antideficiency Act, which bars the government from spending beyond what is dictated in its budget and requires it to use federal funding as intended.

The American Federation of Government Employees, one of the unions suing over the deal, did not immediately respond to request for comment.

This story was updated at 7:19 p.m.

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