Judge Pushes Back Deadline for Trump Admin Buyout Offer to Federal Workers

President Donald Trump speaks during the National Prayer Breakfast, at the Capitol in Washington, on Feb. 6, 2025. Evan Vucci/AP Photo

A federal judge on Feb. 6 extended to Monday a deadline for federal workers to opt into a program from the Trump administration that gives them nearly eight months of full pay and benefits if they quit their jobs.

U.S. District Judge George O'Toole in Boston issued a temporary restraining order that paused the original Feb. 6 deadline for the “deferred resignation” program. The ruling gives workers additional time to decide whether they wish to accept the offer while unions continue legal challenges to the program.

Several unions representing more than 800,000 federal employees advocated for the temporary restraining order.

As of Thursday morning, more than 40,000 federal workers had opted into the program, which originally had its deadline set to 11:59 p.m. later that same day.

At a Monday hearing, where he will consider the unions’ legal challenge, O’Toole could decide to further delay the buyout deal or block it more permanently.

Protesters hit the streets of Washington this week to demonstrate against the buyout proposal. Several Democrats and labor unions have accused the Trump administration of violating federal laws.

While the plan promises the employees full pay through September if they opt in, current spending laws expire in March. There is no guarantee the salaries can or will be funded past that point.

According to the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, around 6 percent of federal employees retire or resign in a normal year.

The Trump administration has said that those who do not accept the buyout could still lose their jobs.

In addition, President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 20 seeking to reclassify up to 50,000 federal workers, making them easier to fire. Trump’s order exempts those “of a confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating character” from civil servant protections. In a lawsuit filed in federal court, the American Federation of Government Employees argued that the president lacks the authority to strip federal workers of protections against firing at will.

The Trump administration argued in a court filing before Thursday’s hearing that an extension to the deadline for federal employees to opt into the “deferred resignation” program was unnecessary.

“Extending the deadline for the acceptance of deferred resignation on its very last day will markedly disrupt the expectations of the federal workforce, inject tremendous uncertainty into a program that scores of federal employees have already availed themselves of, and hinder the Administration’s efforts to reform the federal workforce,” the filing states.

O’Toole gave the unions until Feb. 7 to reply to the administration’s filing.

Mark Tapscott and Reuters contributed to this report.