The deadline by which federal workers must respond to President Donald Trump’s deferred resignation offer has been extended from Feb. 6 to Feb. 10, a federal judge decided Thursday.
Judge George O’Toole of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts granted a limited temporary restraining order in the case, American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO v. Ezell, and suspended the midnight deadline by which employees would need to accept Trump’s offer so that further arguments could be heard during a session Monday.
Unions representing federal workers, including the American Federation of Government Employees, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the National Association of Government Employees, filed the suit Tuesday. The unions alleged that Trump’s offer, titled “Fork in the Road,” is arbitrary and capricious in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act and exceeded the Office of Personnel Management’s authority under the Antideficiency Act.
“We are pleased the court temporarily paused this deadline while arguments are heard about the legality of the deferred resignation program,” Everett Kelley, national president of AFGE, said in a press release. “We continue to believe this program violates the law, and we will continue to aggressively defend our members’ rights,”
Per the offer’s terms, employees who sent the message “Resign” to OPM’s HR email address would retain all pay and benefits until Sept. 30, 2025, or earlier if their resignation is accelerated.
OPM extended the offer to all employees with the exception of military personnel of the armed forces, U.S. Postal Service employees and those in positions related to immigration enforcement and natural security or that were specifically excluded by an employing agency.
As of Wednesday evening, more than 40,000 federal employees accepted Trump’s offer, The Wall Street Journal reported.
O’Toole’s decision effectively blocks Trump’s offer for the time being but also creates uncertainty for employees who have already accepted the deal; “It’s an open question about what will happen to the workers, 40,000 by reports, who have already accepted the deal,” Tom Spiggle, founder of The Spiggle Law Firm, an employee-side firm, said in an email to HR Dive.
