U.S. District Court Judge George O’Toole Jr. issued an order Thursday afternoon pausing the deadline for federal employees to accept a buyout authorized by President Donald Trump that would see them voluntarily resign in exchange for eight months of pay and benefits. The order comes just hours before the offer expires at midnight.
The deadline pause will last until at least Monday when Judge O’Toole Jr. is set to hear arguments in a lawsuit brought by federal worker unions challenging the legality of the buyout. Should the Trump White House successfully defend the policy in court, the delay may prove beneficial. The National Pulse reported Thursday morning that approximately 40,000 federal employees had decided to take the buyout. However, by Thursday afternoon, that number had risen to 60,000.
In their court filing, the federal worker unions contend that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has not been clear as to whether they “can (or will) honor the financial commitment for agencies across government when Congress has appropriated no funds for this purpose, and the statutory basis and appropriation for this promise remain unclear.” In addition, the lawsuit alleges the measure “is also contrary to the law.”