Federal judge allows Trump to push forward with buyouts for government workers after 65K accept offers

A federal judge on Wednesday declined to pause the Trump administration’s buyout program for government workers, giving President Trump a key win in his push to shrink the size of the federal government. US District Judge George A.O’Toole ruled that the union groups suing to block the so-called “Deferred Resignation” program lacked standing and that his Massachusetts-based court lacked the jurisdiction to proceed with the lawsuit. O’Toole, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, temporarily blocked the Office of Personnel Management from moving ahead with the program earlier this week, after unions representing more than 800,000 federal workers charged that that the buyout offers were unlawful.  “The plaintiffs here are not directly impacted by the directive,” the judge ruled.

“Instead, they allege that the directive subjects them to upstream effects including a diversion of resources to answer members’ questions about the directive, a potential loss of membership, and possible reputational harm.” “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,” O’Toole continued.“This is not sufficient.” OPM had given some 2 million federal workers unwilling to comply with a return-to-office mandate a Feb.

6 deadline to accept about eight months of pay and benefits in exchange for their resignations. The agency further warned that the buyout offer would not be extended past the deadline and that workers choosing to stay put should expect downsizing, restructurings, realignments and workforce reductions under Trump. About 65,000 federal workers have accepted the deal, according to the White House.“OPM is pleased the court has rejected a desperate effort to strike down the Deferred Resignation Program,” OPM spokeswoman McLaurine Pinover told The Post.“As of 7:00 p.m.

tonight, the program is now closed.”“There is ...