Federal judge allows Trump buyout program to continue

By Sam Dorman, The Epoch Times – February 12, 2025

A federal judge has removed a block he had previously placed on the Trump administration’s buyout program for federal workers and denied unions’ request for further relief.

Massachusetts Judge George O’Toole said in a Feb. 12 order that the plaintiffs lacked standing and the court did not have subject matter jurisdiction over their claims.

According to the White House, at least 70,000 federal workers have accepted the buyout offer that came as part of the “Fork in the Road” plan allowing employees to take a deferred resignation with months of pay.

“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,” O’Toole said. “This is not sufficient.”

His order indicated that aggrieved employees should bring claims through the administrative process. “That the unions themselves may be foreclosed from this administrative process does not mean that adequate judicial review is lacking,” he said.

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), one of the union plaintiffs, criticized the ruling in a statement.

O’Toole’s decision came two days after a Feb. 10 hearing in Boston, where the Department of Justice (DOJ) and an attorney for the unions argued before O’Toole. At that time, O’Toole said he would maintain a block he imposed on Feb. 6 until he made a decision on further relief.

PHOTO: The entrance to the Theodore Roosevelt Federal Building that houses the Office of Personnel Management headquarters is shown in Washington on June 5, 2021. Mark Wilson/Getty Images