A federal judge in Massachusetts temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s “deferred resignation” program, meant to push out career government workers as part of the Elon Musk-run Department of Government Efficiency’s alleged effort to cut federal spending, several outlets report.
The program gave employees a deadline just before midnight on Thursday to accept the offer, which was billed by the Trump administration as a buyout. It promised to pay out employees through September if they resigned by the deadline — even though the government is not funded past March 14th. A group of unions representing federal employees sued the Office of Personnel Management and its acting director, claiming the directive violates the Administrative Procedure Act because it is “arbitrary and capricious” and promises money that hasn’t been appropriated by Congress.
U.S. District Judge George O’Toole Jr. agreed to pause the clock on the deadline until at least Monday, when he will hear further arguments, according to ABC News. “I believe that’s as far as I want to go today,” he said, per ABC.
The action is a slight reprieve for federal workers whose jobs and lives have been in flux since Elon Musk’s takeover of many aspects of the federal government through his leadership of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). A General Services Administration official had warned in an email obtained by The Washington Post that layoffs were “likely” should too few employees accept the deferred resignation agreement. Outlets including CNN reported that at least 40,000 workers, or about two percent of the two million who received the offer, had volunteered for the package as of Wednesday; the White House had been targeting five to ten percent.