Trump and Musk get big boost after judge greenlights mass buyout plan for federal workers
Boston, Massachusetts - President Donald Trump's efforts to drastically slash the government workforce got a big boost Wednesday as a US judge lifted a freeze on a buyout plan.
US District Judge George O'Toole, who had temporarily paused the plan last week, lifted his restraining order on the mass buyout offer.
Labor unions representing federal employees had filed suit to block the scheme masterminded by far-right billionaire Elon Musk to dismantle whole swathes.
In an email titled Fork in the Road, the more than two million US government employees were given an offer to leave with eight months' pay or risk being fired in future culls.
The White House says more than 65,000 federal employees have signed on to the buyout offer from the Office of Personnel Management.
O'Toole, an appointee of president Bill Clinton, said the unions lacked the standing to bring the suit and his court did not have jurisdiction over the matter.
"The unions do not have the required direct stake in the Fork Directive, but are challenging a policy that affects others, specifically executive branch employees," he said.
Union vows to keep up fight "for dignity and fairness"
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), which represents 800,000 federal workers and was among the unions that brought the suit, called the ruling "a setback in the fight for dignity and fairness for public servants."
"But it's not the end of that fight," AFGE national president Everett Kelley said in a statement. "Importantly, this decision did not address the underlying lawfulness of the program.
"We continue to maintain it is illegal to force American citizens who have dedicated their careers to public service 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," Kelley said.
Musk, the world's richest person and Trump's biggest donor, aims to cut hundreds of billions of dollars in government spending. His plans have effectively shuttered some federal agencies, sent thousands of staff members home, and sparked legal battles across the country.
Trump's executive actions have been challenged in dozens of court cases and the White House accused judges on Wednesday of "abusing their power" to block the president's moves, setting up a potential constitutional crisis.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt celebrated O'Toole's ruling, calling it "the first of many legal wins for the President."
Cover photo: REUTERS