A federal judge has cleared the way for Donald Trump’s plan to downsize the federal workforce with a deferred resignation program.
It was a significant legal victory for the Republican president after a string of courtroom setbacks.
The US district judge George O’Toole Jr in Boston found that the unions didn’t have legal standing to challenge the program, commonly described as a buyout. He did not address the legality of the so-called “Fork in the Road” program itself.
“This goes to show that lawfare will not ultimately prevail over the will of 77 million Americans who supported President Trump and his priorities,” said the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt.
There was no immediate response from the labor unions that had sued over Trump’s plan. O’Toole was nominated by Bill Clinton, a Democrat.
Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), said in a statement issued after the ruling that the union’s lawyers were evaluating the decision and assessing next steps.
“Today’s ruling is a setback in the fight for dignity and fairness for public servants,” Kelley said. “But it’s not the end of that fight. Importantly, this decision did not address the underlying lawfulness of the program.”
The union continues to maintain that it is illegal to force American citizens 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”, the statement said.
Trump wants to use financial incentives to encourage government employees to quit. According to the White House, tens of thousands of workers have taken the government up on its offer.
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The deferred resignation program has been spearheaded by Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, who is serving as Trump’s top adviser for reducing federal spending. Under the plan, employees can stop working and get paid until 30 September.
Labor unions argued the plan is illegal and asked for O’Toole to keep it on hold and prevent the office of personnel management, or OPM, from soliciting more workers to sign up.
