A federal judge has kept a temporary block on the Trump administration’s offer of mass buyouts for more than 2 million government workers while he considers whether the offer is lawful.
After issuing a temporary retraining order extending a deadline last week for federal employees to decide whether to accept the buyout offer, US district judge George O’Toole heard arguments in Boston on Monday in the lawsuit brought by federal workers’ unions which claims the administration’s “deferred resignation” program is illegal because it has not been authorized by Congress. After the arguments, O’Toole said he would keep in place the temporary restraining order while he considers whether to block it longer term.
The lawsuit argues that the buyout offer is an “arbitrary, unlawful, short-fused ultimatum” to force the resignation of government workers under the “threat of mass termination”.
The judge’s decision prevents the administration from implementing the buyout plan for now. It is unclear when he will rule on the unions’ request to stop it entirely.
The Trump administration said it had offered nearly all of the roughly 2 million civilian federal workers the opportunity to leave their jobs and receive eight months’ severance pay and benefits, or to stay in their positions and agree to new reforms, including a requirement to work in the office five days a week.
In an email titled “Fork in the road”, the US office of personnel management (OPM) also warned that those who chose to stay would be subject to “enhanced standards of conduct” and might face potential layoffs or reassignment.
Since the email was sent on 29 January, 65,000 workers have chosen to take the deferred resignation offer, according to a White House official.
Democrats and union leaders have advised federal workers not to accept the offer amid concerns about its legality and the administration’s ability to fulfill its side of the deal. “It’s a scam and not a buyout,” said Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees.
A coalition of Democratic attorneys general, led by the New York attorney general, Letitia James, warned federal employees that the buyout offer was “misleading”.
“President Trump’s so-called buyout offers are nothing more than the latest attack on federal workers and the services they provide,” James wrote in a statement. “These supposed offers are not guaranteed.”
Employees at the education department have been warned that those who accept the buyout could see their paychecks stop at any time and workers would not have any recourse.
In response to the judge’s order, the OPM announced on Thursday that the deadline to accept the deferred resignation program would be extended to Monday.
“The program is NOT being blocked or canceled,” it said. “The government will honor the deferred resignation offer.”
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Source: US Politics - theguardian.com
