WASHINGTON (DC News Now) — A federal judge on Thursday temporarily halted the Trump administration from implementing its deferred resignation program, just hours before the 11:59 p.m. deadline for workers to decide whether to accept the offer.
“We are pleased the court temporarily paused this deadline while arguments are heard about the legality of the deferred resignation program,” said Everett Kelley, National President of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE). “We continue to believe this program violates the law, and we will continue to aggressively defend our members’ rights.”
AFGE is one of several federal labor unions that filed a lawsuit challenging the program.
The unions, along with Democratic lawmakers, argue the buyout is illegal and unconstitutional.
“We’ve got to make sure whether it’s the folks who have been furloughed or the people who have potentially taken the illegal buyout offer, which there is no funding for at all, to think twice,” said Virginia Senator Mark Warner.
On Jan. 28, federal workers were sent an email titled “Fork in the Road” which explained the deferred resignation offer.
According to the notice, “If you resign under this program, you will retain all pay and benefits regardless of your daily workload and will be exempted from all applicable in-person work requirements until September 30, 2025.”
Federal employees had until 11:59 p.m. on Feb. 6 to decide.
That deadline has been pushed, as a judge considers the legality of the program. A court hearing is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Monday.
In a post on X shortly after 5 p.m., the U.S. Office of Personal Management wrote:
In compliance with the court order, the deadline for federal employees to accept the deferred resignation program is being extended to Monday, February 10, at 11:59pmET. The program is NOT being blocked or canceled. The government will honor the deferred resignation offer.
Earlier in the day on Thursday, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the program.
“It’s going to save the American people tens of millions of dollars and we encourage federal workers in the city to accept this generous offer,” said Leavitt. “If they don’t want to show up to this office, if they want to rip the American people off, we’ll find highly competent people to fill these roles.”
She said that more than 40,000 federal workers have accepted the offer.
