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The Boston-based judge's order in the challenge filed by a group
of labor unions was a significant legal victory for the
Republican president after a string of courtroom setbacks.
“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 White House press secretary Karoline
Leavitt.
Another group of unions filed a lawsuit in Washington, D.C. late
Wednesday, though its potential impacts were not immediately
clear.
About 75,000 federal workers accepted the offer to quit in
return for being paid until Sept. 30, according to McLaurine
Pinover, a spokesperson for the Office of Personnel Management.
She said the deferred resignation program “provides generous
benefits so federal workers can plan for their futures," and it
was now closed to additional workers.
American Federation of Government Employees National President
Everett Kelley said in a statement that the union's lawyers are
assessing the 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's 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.
U.S. District Judge George O’Toole Jr. in Boston found that the
unions weren’t directly affected, so they didn't have legal
standing to challenge the program, commonly described as a
buyout. O'Toole was nominated by former President Bill Clinton,
a Democrat.
The deferred resignation program has been spearheaded by Elon
Musk, who is serving as Trump’s top adviser for reducing federal
spending. Under the plan, employees can stop working and get
paid until Sept. 30.
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.
A Justice Department lawyer has called the plan a “humane off
ramp” for federal employees who may have structured their lives
around working remotely and have been ordered to return to
government offices.
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