A judge handed President Donald Trump a victory against a coalition of unions that filed a lawsuit against his offer of buyouts of federal employees.
The Trump administration offered employees a one-time buyout offer of $25,000 to quit their jobs in order to aid in the effort to reduce the size of the federal government. A group of unions filed a lawsuit to stop what they called “deferred resignation” because they alleged the plan was illegal.
‘This goes to show that lawfare will not ultimately prevail over the will of 77 million Americans who supported President Trump and his priorities.’
U.S. District Court Judge George O’Toole said that the unions did not have standing to sue and that the court did not have the jurisdiction to hear the complaint.
“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. This is not sufficient,” O’Toole wrote.
He lifted the pause he put on the buyouts last week and allowed the Trump administration to continue with the plan.
The Office of Personnel Management announced the program in an email to employees on Jan. 28. The American Federation of Government Employees and other unions objected to the program on the basis that it violated the Antideficiency Act, which ironically is intended to ban spending not specifically passed by Congress.
A White House official said about 65,000 federal workers chose the buyout offer. Critics say that resignation of 1% of the workforce is far below the yearly average attrition rate of 5%-6%, meaning those who left likely were planning to resign anyway.
The White House press secretary issued a statement after the court victory.
“This Boston buyout ruling is the first of many legal wins for the president,” said Karoline Leavitt. “The Court dissolved the injunction due to a lack of standing. This goes to show that lawfare will not ultimately prevail over the will of 77 million Americans who supported President Trump and his priorities.”
The buyout program is among a flurry of orders issued in Trump’s second term. Democrats have responded with a resistance efforts including court challenges, but they have barely slowed down the stunning pace of Trump’s reforms.
O’Toole was nominated by former President Bill Clinton.
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