A federal judge has rejected the Democrats’ effort to stop the Trump administration’s employee buyout program, which allowed federal workers to choose to resign immediately in exchange for being paid their fully salary until September — allowing them to have six months of pay without having to work.
Clarification of what can be done while receiving full government pay & benefits for 8 months: whatever you like, including obtaining a new job. https://t.co/iQPFOSbZjZ
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 29, 2025
On February 12, U.S. District Judge George O’Toole Jr., who previously paused the program, ruled against the Democrat-controlled public sector unions’ efforts to block the Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) “Fork in the Road” program. Out of the two million federal workers who qualified for the program, more than 75,000 agreed to the deal.
🚨 #BREAKING: TRUMP AND ELON WIN IN COURT – Federal worker buyout allowed to proceed
A judge had previously BLOCKED the plan allowing federal workers to resign with 8 months pay.
Over 70,000 employees have already agreed to the deal.
THEY CAN’T STOP THE WINNING! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/62P8UEJjZq
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) February 12, 2025
The initial deadline for accepting the deal was February 6, but O’Toole issued a temporary pause on the program that same day, which extended the deadline while he considered the unions’ lawsuit. Due to his latest ruling, the window to accept the buyout offer closed on February 12 at 7:20 p.m. ET.
In his decision, O’Toole ruled that the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and several other unions who joined the lawsuit lacked standing to challenge the program. The unions argued in their suit that the buyouts violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).
“The plaintiffs are unable to succeed on the merits of their two APA claims because they lack Article III standing and because this Court does not have subject matter jurisdiction over the claims asserted,” the judge said.
O’Toole also noted that the unions were not directly impacted enough to challenge the buyouts.
“The plaintiffs here are not directly impacted by the directive. 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 judge wrote. “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.”
OPM spokeswoman McLaurine Pinover celebrated O’Toole’s ruling, telling the New York Post that the department was “pleased the court has rejected a desperate effort to strike down the Deferred Resignation Program.”
“There is no longer any doubt: the Deferred Resignation Program was both legal and a valuable option for federal employees,” she added. “This program was carefully designed, thoroughly vetted, and provides generous benefits so federal workers can plan for their futures.”
Meanwhile, AFGE president Everett Kelley was disappointed with the judge’s ruling, claiming that it was “a setback in the fight for dignity and fairness for public servants.”
“We continue to maintain it is illegal to force American citizens who have dedicated their careers to public service to make a decision, in a few short days, without adequate information, about whether to uproot their families and leave their careers for what amounts to an unfunded IOU from Elon Musk,” he added.
