Yet another federal judge had decided to legislate from the bench.
As CNN reported, U.S District Judge George A. O’Toole, Jr. of Massachusetts announced today that he was blocking the “fork in the road” buyout program, pausing Thursday’s deadline for federal employees to accept the Trump administration’s generous resignation offer. According to the outlet, the judge wants to see more court proceedings on the program’s legality play out.
The government will also send a notice to the employees informing them that Thursday’s deadline is on ice.
Another hearing is set for Monday at 2 p.m. ET, according to MSNBC.
Before O’Toole, Jr.’s ruling, eligible federal workers had until 11:59 p.m. ET on Thursday to decide whether to take the Trump Administration’s offer.
In the meantime, O’Toole, Jr., who Bill Clinton nominated, has at least temporarily saved hundreds of thousands of federal employees from potential termination as the Trump Administration plans massive layoffs for those who refuse to accept the buyout offer.
As CNN notes, today’s pause is the result of a lawsuit filed by the American Federation of Government Employees and multiple other unions in the US District Court in Massachusetts two days ago. They were seeking a temporary restraining order to halt the February 6 deadline.
As The Gateway Pundit previously reported, Trump offered buyouts to millions of federal workers if they resigned by today. The workers who accept Trump’s offer will receive pay and benefits through September 30.
DOGE leader and X owner Elon Musk has pointed out this is a fair and generous deal, especially compared to what happens when private sector workers get canned.
It’s important to note that Trump’s offer does not include postal workers, military personnel, immigration officials, or people in national security roles.
Over 40,000 federal workers have so far taken Trump’s offer. Between 5% and 10% of federal employees were expected to take Trump’s buyout offer.
But that still leaves almost a million federal employees eligible for termination even under the most generous scenario.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated
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