Trump administration’s 'deferred resignation' deadline blocked until next week
On Tuesday, the American Federation of Government Employees, AFSCME and the National Association of Government Employees sued the Office of Personnel Management in an effort to halt the program. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
By
Erich Wagner
OPM is required to notify all employees who received an initial "deferred resignation" offer by Thursday evening that the deadline for accepting the legally dubious offer has been pushed until Monday.
A federal judge in Massachusetts on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to cease all activities aimed at implementing Trump and Elon Musk’s controversial "deferred resignation" program until next week.
On Tuesday, the American Federation of Government Employees, AFSCME and the National Association of Government Employees sued the Office of Personnel Management in an effort to halt the program, which offered most federal workers the chance to quit this month while retaining their pay and benefits until the end of September, provided they agree to resign by midnight Thursday. The unions argued that the program violates the Anti-Deficiency Act by pledging federal payments past the current March 14 government funding deadline and its ever-changing provisions and legal justifications violate the Administrative Procedures Act.
U.S. District Judge George A. O’Toole Jr., a Clinton appointee, said he would enjoin the program until the parties can meet to deliver oral arguments, a hearing for which is now set for Monday afternoon.
“In aid of the preparation or consideration of the issues as presented by both sides, I am enjoining the defendants from implementing the ‘Fork’ directive,” he said at a brief hearing Thursday. “I think that’s about as far as I want to go today, and I look forward to the completion of your paper submissions.”
At the unions’ request, O’Toole also ordered the government to email all employees who received the original deferred resignation offer an update by Thursday evening to inform them that the deadline to accept or decline the offer will be delayed until at least Monday of next week.