Judge leaves pause on Trump’s “deferred resignations” plan for federal workers in place for now

Boston — A federal judge in Boston on Monday heard arguments over whether to extend a nationwide pause in the Trump administration’s bid to offer “deferred resignations” to federal workers who voluntarily leave government service.

Judge George O’Toole of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts initially paused the deadline for workers to accept the offer last week, and held a hearing on Monday over whether he should issue a temporary restraining order extending the pause. He declined to rule on the matter from the bench, and said the pause would remain in effect until he issues a new order.

Last month, the Office of Personnel Management, or OPM, sent a notice offering more than 2 million federal workers the option of resigning their positions while retaining full pay and benefits until Sept 30. Federal workers who agreed to resign would be exempt from in-person work requirements through September and would not be required to work at their government jobs during the deferred resignation period, according to the notice. 

For those who opted to keep their positions, the message from OPM, bearing the subject line “Fork in the Road,” noted that the Trump administration could not give “full assurance regarding the certainty of your position or agency.” The agency also noted that many federal agencies will be downsized “through restructurings, realignments and reductions in force.”

As of this past weekend, 65,000 federal employees had accepted the proposal, and that number could grow. Unions representing federal workers, including the AFL-CIO, sued the government last week to stop the deadline and challenge the legality of the program, arguing it violates federal law. They also noted that funding for federal agencies is set to run out on March 14 if Congress doesn’t act to keep the government funded and cover salaries for government workers.

OPM said on its website that if the government shuts down because of a funding lapse, employees who accept the deferred resignation offer would still be entitled to backpay under a federal law passed in 2019.

The legal challenge

Employees previously had until Feb. 6 to accept or reject the offer, but O’Toole paused the deadline until at least Monday for further review. The offer is not available to members of the military, U.S. Postal Service employees or those whose work is related to immigration and national security, OPM said.

At Monday’s hearing, Elena Goldstein, an attorney for the nonprofit organization Democracy Forward who argued on behalf of the unions, alleged the “program of unprecedented magnitude” prompted chaos and confusion among federal employees. She said some workers fear the Trump administration “may continue to change the terms of the ultimatum.” 

“Employees don’t know what they are accepting,” she argued, later calling the proposed plan a “short-term, exploding deadline.” 

Goldstein said the Trump administration’s move has undercut the unions’ abilities to advise federal employees and provide them with proper protections. She said the offer has negatively affected various government functions like hospitals that care for veterans. 

“When the government wants to downsize, there are ways to do it correctly,” Goldstein alleged. 

The unions argued that OPM’s pledge that federal employees who take the deal will be paid through September is “a promise they cannot make” and violates the law because Congress has yet to appropriate funds through that time. 

Eric Hamilton, a Justice Department attorney, pushed back, arguing that “President Trump campaigned on a promise to reorganize the federal workforce.” To keep that promise, he said, the Trump administration sought to make changes including limiting remote work. He revealed the administration needs the deferred resignation program to be completed as soon as possible so the White House personnel office can proceed in their efforts to “rebalance and reorganize the federal workforce.” 

The deferred resignation program “offers a humane offramp” to employees who “might have structured their life around having a remote employment opportunity,” Hamilton told the judge. 

The Justice Department argued the unions’ attempt to stop the program was flawed because they had not proven they had standing to bring the case in the first place. Increased uncertainty or questions to unions from employees is not enough to file a federal lawsuit, Hamilton said, calling the union’s theory of the case “absurd.”

The deferred resignation offer is part of a broader initiative undertaken by President Trump to slash the size of the federal government. The president issued several directives soon after the start of his second term last month that were aimed at reducing the federal workforce, including mandating employees return to their offices five days a week and reinstating an order that created a new employment category for many career civil servants, effectively stripping them of certain employment protections.

He also tapped billionaire Elon Musk to oversee the White House’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. Musk and DOGE employees have since targeted at least a dozen federal agencies, including the Treasury and Labor Departments.

DOGE’s access to agency systems has sparked a slew of lawsuits from unions representing federal workers.