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Judge declines to block Trump administration's resignation offer to federal employees

Updated February 12, 20257:38 PM ET

After issuing two stays, U.S. District Judge George O'Toole has declined to block the Trump administration's deferred resignation program for federal employees.

The ruling comes more than two weeks after the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) ..https://www.opm.gov/fork . sent an email to more than 2 million civilian employees of the federal government with the subject line "Fork in the Road."

The email presented government workers with a choice: They could resign now, in exchange for pay and benefits through the end of September, or they could remain in their positions, with the caveat that their jobs are not guaranteed.

Moreover, those who stayed would face "significant" reforms, including layoffs, a return to working in the office full time and an expectation that they be "loyal," the email said.

The legal group Democracy Forward filed a lawsuit .. https://democracyforward.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/AFGE-AFLCIO-Fork-2.4.25.pdf . on Feb. 4 on behalf of labor unions representing more than 800,000 civil servants, alleging that the Trump administration's resignation offer is unlawful, as well as "arbitrary and capricious in numerous respects." .. https://www.npr.org/2025/02/08/g-s1-47098/trump-arbitrary-lawsuits-gender-executive-actions

In his ruling, O'Toole wrote that the plaintiffs — the labor unions — lack standing to challenge the "Fork" directive, because they are not directly impacted by it.

"Instead, they allege that the directive subjects them to upstream effects including a diversion of resources to answer members' questions about the directive, a potential loss of membership, and possible reputational harm," O'Toole wrote in his decision. "This is not sufficient."

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https://www.npr.org/2025/02/12/nx-s1-5293079/trump-musk-federal-employees-fork-resign-buyout