Judge Temporarily Blocks Trump’s Federal Worker Buyout Plan

On Thursday a federal judge temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s plans to force federal workers out by offering financial incentives. This is the latest twist in an ongoing saga that involves millions of government workers.

The decision came just hours before midnight when they had to submit their applications for the program of deferred resignation. U.S. district judge George O’Toole Jr., in Boston, ordered the administration to delay that deadline until Monday afternoon after a hearing he had scheduled. O’Toole said that he did not have an opinion about the legality of the program which is being challenged. He will weigh the arguments next week.

Karoline Levy, White House press secretary, said that more than 40,000 federal employees have requested leave and will be paid up until September 30.

She said, “We encourage federal employees in this city to take up the generous offer,” at the time the judge’s decision was announced. They don’t want to come to the office. They can take the buyout if they want to defraud the American public. We’ll replace them with highly qualified individuals.

Elon Musk is a billionaire entrepreneur and Trump’s top advisor. He orchestrated the deferred resignation plan. The Republican president wants to reshape the federal government and weaken what his supporters call the “deep state” that undermined Trump’s first term. Officials in the administration said they could save taxpayers money by offering employees “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

The administration increased its pressure to get employees out of the office on Wednesday. It sent a message that furloughs and layoffs may be next.

“The majority of federal agencies are likely to be downsized through restructurings, realignments, and reductions in force,” said the message from the Office of Personnel Management, which has been a nexus of Musk’s efforts to downsize the government.

In the email, it was stated that anyone remaining would be expected to remain “loyal”, and “will be subjected to enhanced standards for suitability and conduct” as we move on. Some employees may also be reclassified to reduce civil service protections.

The email stated that employees who engaged in illegal behavior or other misconduct would be given priority for investigation and discipline including termination.

Democrats say workers should not accept the deferred resigning program, because it was not authorized by Congress. This increases the risk that they will not be paid.

Everett Kelley is the president of the American Federation of Government Employees.

Kelley said he tells workers, “If it was me, I wouldn’t do it.”

A Department of Education employee, who spoke under anonymity for fear of retaliation said that the administration seemed desperate to get people to sign the agreement. She said that there were many red flags in the agreement, including a clause that waived the right to sue the government if it did not honor its end of the bargain.

Musk, the richest man in the world, was put in charge of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency. This is a massive initiative to shrink the size and scope of the federal government. The email that offered the deferred-resignation program was entitled “Fork in the road.” It echoed a similar message Musk sent to Twitter employees two years ago after he purchased the social media platform.

As the deadline nears, officials from the Trump administration have organized question-and-answer sessions with employees.

Rachel Oglesby is the chief of staff for the Department of Education. She previously worked at America First Policy Institute. Trump has been trying to reduce federal employees.

According to an audio recording, she stated: “I know that there have been many questions about whether this is real or a trick. And that’s exactly how it looks. It’s just one of many tools he uses to try and achieve his campaign promise to reform the civil service and bring changes to D.C.”

According to another recording, the issue was also raised during a meeting between Department of Agriculture employees. Marlon Taubenheim acknowledged that “these times are trying and there is a lot of stress.”

He said, “Unfortunately we don’t have all the answers.”

Jacqueline Ponti Lazaruk, a leader at another agency, told employees that they “probably did not have the runway time you would have liked to make life-changing decisions.”

She said that for those who remained, “we will just keep plugging away.”

The assurances of administration officials did not ease concerns in a variety of agencies. Some federal employees said that they didn’t trust the validity and authority of Trump to distribute money. Some point out his history of stiffing contractors when he was a New York property mogul.

Outside federal buildings, there have been scattered protests, including Tuesday outside the Office of Personnel Management.

“I’m taking a risk and being bold and trying to get more federal workers to take a risk to speak out,” said Dante O’Hara, who said he works for the government. “Because if we don’t, then we’re all going to lose our jobs and they’re going to put all these loyalists or people that will be their shock troops.”