Judge Restores Trump Buyout Offer to Federal Employees

On Wednesday, a federal judge ruled in favor of the Trump Administration by restoring the president’s offer of an 8-month buyout for all federal employees if they agree to resign.

As reported by The Hill, U.S. District Judge George O’Toole, in Massachusetts, determined that the plaintiffs who had filed a lawsuit seeking to block the offer were “not directly impacted by the directive,” and thus did not have standing to sue the president and his administration.

“[T]hey 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,” Judge O’Toole explained in his ruling. “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.”

“The Fork Directive” is one of several terms used to refer to the buyout offer, as it has been referred to as the “fork in the road” initiative. The offer promises 8 months of paid time off in exchange for federal employees resigning from their posts. Due to the delays in the program’s expiration date as a result of the legal challenges, over 75,000 federal workers were able to accept the offer.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt celebrated the ruling as “the first of many legal wins for the President.”

“The court dissolved the injunction due to a lack of standing,” said Leavitt in a statement. “This goes to show that lawfare will not ultimately prevail over the will of 77 million Americans who supported President Trump and his priorities.”

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which is overseeing the buyout efforts, also released a statement after the ruling saying that the agency is “pleased the court has rejected a desperate effort to strike down the Deferred Resignation Program.”

OPM then confirmed that the offer expired at 7:00 PM on Wednesday night, after the judge’s ruling.

“There is no longer any doubt: the Deferred Resignation Program was both legal and a valuable option for federal employees,” said an OPM spokesman. “This program was carefully designed, thoroughly vetted, and provides generous benefits so federal workers can plan for their futures.”