A federal judge has temporarily blocked a Thursday deadline issued by the current administration for more than 2 million federal workers to decide whether to resign or stay in their jobs. Reports said that more than 40,000 workers agreed to the Trump federal worker buyout program.
A federal worker in Massachusetts pushed back the deadline for employees to accept the U.S. government’s federal workers’ buyout program in 2025. The offer, which was set to expire on 6 February at 11.59 p.m. ET, was emailed from the US administration’s Office of Personnel Management (OPM) last week. Federal judge George O’Toole has said the plan is paused until at least Monday, giving ample of time for legal briefs to be filed before a final hearing on Monday.
Federal Employee Buyout Program: Next Steps
The federal worker buyout offer is part of an ongoing effort by the current administration to cut the size of the workforce. According to The White House, more than 40,000 workers have agreed to the federal employees exit program in exchange for incentives such as pay until 30 September. This represents roughly 2% of the workforce, below a goal of 5% to 10% set by The White House.
The low number of federal workers accepting the US government’s buyout plan could stem from confusion about the terms of the federal worker buyout plan.
As many as 200,000 employees are expected to resign under the US government’s buyout plan of 2025.
A lawyer for the justice department said federal employees would be notified that the deadline has been paused until a hearing on Monday.
The White House appeared to see the temporary pause on the federal worker buyout plan as a way to increase the number of resignations.
“We are grateful to the Judge for extending the deadline so more federal workers who refuse to show up to the office can take the Administration up on this very generous, once-in-a-lifetime offer,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
According to the Office of Personnel Management, the agency would continue processing resignations of workers until an extended federal buyout deadline of 23:59 local time on Monday.
“The program is NOT being blocked or canceled,” it said. “The government will honor the deferred resignation offer.“
U.S. Government’s Goals Through the Federal Buyout Plan
The current administration is hoping that as many as 200,000 employees will accept the US government’s buyout plan of 2025.
It seems that all may not go as planned right now. More recently, the American Federation of Government Employees, a union, filed a lawsuit against the OPM, arguing it had violated the federal law, and that it could not fund the deal, and that it had given conflicting guidance about its buyout terms.
The union wrote in an email to members that the federal employee’s exit program was part of an “effort to dismantle the civil service and replace the skilled, professional workforce with unqualified political appointees and for-profit contractors“.
According to the union, a set budget for funding beyond mid-March is yet to be passed in Congress, and that it is unclear whether agencies could pay workers under the Federal worker buyout plan of 2025 until September this year.
What Happens To Federal Workers Who Reject the U.S. Government’s Buyout Plan?
The current administration warned federal employees could be furloughed if they do not accept the US government’s buyout program and that “the majority of federal agencies will be downsized,” with the Defense Department as an exception.
Federal workers who want to stay in their jobs have been told they must return to the office, and work under new “performance standards” among other new “reforms” across the government.
According to the Pew Research Center, the federal government employed more than 3 million people as of November last year, which accounted for nearly 1.9% of the country’s entire civilian workforce. The average tenure for a federal worker is nearly 12 years.
