Labor unions criticized the short, nine-day resignation window provided to federal employees, with the lawsuit calling the original deadline “an arbitrary date […] selected to put maximum pressure on the federal workforce so that they would accept the offer, in many cases contrary to federal agency and federal employee interests.”
A federal judge in Massachusetts has granted a labor union-led lawsuit’s request to pause the Trump administration’s “deferred resignation” offer to federal employees.
According to National Public Radio, U.S. District Judge George A. O’Toole Jr. issued his decision several hours before the offer was set to expire. Under its terms, federal workers who voluntarily resign from their positions will continue receiving full pay and benefits through September 30.
In his ruling, O’Toole said that he had received a brief from the government and wanted to give the labor unions time to reply. He has scheduled another hearing for Monday afternoon.
O’Toole ordered the government to both extend the deadline and to immediately inform all employees who had received offers that the deadline was being extended.
“In compliance with the court order, the deadline for federal employees to accept the deferred resignation program is being extended to Monday, Feb. 10, at 11:59p.m., EST,” the federal Office of Personnel management wrote in a social media post. “The program is NOT being blocked or canceled. The government will honor the deferred resignation offer.”
The Trump administration has since tried to posit the ruling as a victory, suggesting that an extension could lead more federal workers to leave their jobs.
“We are grateful to the judge for extending the deadline so more federal workers who refuse to show up to the office can take the administration up on this very generous, once-in-a-lifetime offer,” White House Press Secretary Karole Leavitt said.
The labor unions, in contrast, argue that the resignation offer is “arbitrary and capricious in numerous respects.” The Trump administration has, for instance, allegedly failed to consider how mass resignations could affect the government’s ability to function; attorneys also claimed that the offer is a pretext to replace career employees with workers who politically and ideologically loyal to the president.
The lawsuit notes that the White House cannot even guarantee that employees who accept the offer will receive the promised compensation, given that funding for most federal agencies will expire in mid-March. The Trump administration is therefore allegedly planning to spend money “before an appropriation is authorized.”
Labor unions also criticized the short, nine-day resignation window provided to federal employees, with the lawsuit calling the original deadline “an arbitrary date […] selected to put maximum pressure on the federal workforce so that they would accept the offer, in many cases contrary to federal agency and federal employee interests.”
Sources
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