February 12, 2025
President Trump’s so-called “buyout” for federal workers can move forward.
So says a federal judge in the district of Massachusetts. This is a win for the Trump administration.
Judge O’Toole issued this order just a short time ago lifting the pause he put on the program trump calls a buyout earlier this week. It’s important to know – judge O’Toole did not rule that what trump was offering to federal employees is legal. No that’s not what he said. The judge actually ruled that the people who brought this lawsuit – the federal worker labor unions – did not have standing to bring the case in the first place becuase the judge determined they are not directly impacted by the president’s offer. And the judge also ruled that his particular court did not have jurisdiction over the president’s offer.
You know that since he took office, president trump has been on a mission to slim down the federal workforce. To do that he said federal workers who resign soon would get to stop working for the federal government and would still receive their regular pay through September. The white house reported — of the more than 2 million federal workers — about 65,000 of them took that deal.
But the federal workers union sued and argued in court that the president’s offer was an “arbitrary, unlawful, short-fused ultimatum.” They argued the offer trump is calling a “buyout” has no guarantee and in the end federal workers could be left with nothing and no way to get their job back.
Why? Well – the fact is – again – congress has the power of the purse. We don’t know how much this is going to cost. The president offering tens of thousands of federal workers – or more—more than 7 months of their salary up front with no work to show for it. That is probably something that congress has to approve. And don’t forget – there is no deal yet to even keep the federal government open past March 14th. It’s scheduled to shut down unless congress finds a way to pass a funding bill. As of now – there isn’t one. And certainly – if the government can’t even open – no federal worker is going to get their regular salary – let alone more than seven months up front through this so called “buyout.”
It’s unclear if these federal worker unions are going to appeal this ruling and it’s also unclear if or when the deadline to accept the president’s offer to resign will be reinstated for federal employees.
Lastly, president trump has made a big deal recently about what he is calling “activist” judges. And judge O’Toole who is an appointee of President Clinton has been in trump’s cross hairs because he is one of the several judges who initially blocked trump’s efforts. It’s unclear if trump will change his tune now that judge O’Toole seemingly has sided with him.
Read the judge’s order here.
