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A federal judge in Boston on Wednesday allowed the Trump administration to move forward for now with a postponed resignation offer to federal employees.
US District Judge George O’Toole said the federal employee union that filed the lawsuit on behalf of its members was not in a position to file the case as it was not directly affected by the offer. He had previously issued temporary restraining orders for the program.
The ruling is a major victory for the Trump administration, and has struggled to successfully defend its court policy in about four dozen cases.
The postponed offer of resignation is a key part of the Trump administration’s efforts to reduce the federal government.
About 75,000 workers have accepted the package, according to McLaurine Pinover, a spokesman for the Human Resources Administration. The program closed at 7pm on Wednesday. Semafor reported the number of employees who initially opted in.
This offer usually allows them to quit their job, but they can be paid until the end of September. However, unions and many workers say the administration is confused and confused about the package information.
The 75,000 figure represents nearly 4% of the approximately 2 million federal employees who received incentives. However, after sending the offer, the administration exempts some positions, so not all can finally take it, but the number of people in that situation is very low, Pimber said .
The White House says the goal is for 5% to 10% of employees to resign. On Tuesday, Trump took a step forward to preparing for a widespread layoff amongst the remaining people.
Eligible employees initially applied until the end of last Thursday night, but the Trump administration extended the deadline just before midnight Monday after a temporary suspension from O’Toole.
O’Toole, appointing former President Bill Clinton, said in a five-page ruling he was clearing up previous orders that extended the deadline for federal workers to accept the administration’s postponed resignation offer.
These orders irritated the administration’s attempts to quickly get closer to what is called takeover offers.
The program hurts the US Government Employee Federation and its association with the United States Government’s Federation of Employees, claiming it was illegal and distracting resources to deal with “a tide wave of questions and counselling requests raised by the Fork Order.” It was challenged by several other unions that claimed to have been.
However, O’Toole said that allegedly these harms were “not enough” to grant the union a legal right (known as status) to file a lawsuit in its first place.
“The union does not have the direct interests required for the Fork Order, but it is challenging policies that affect others, especially executive employees,” the judge wrote.
Attorneys for AFGE, the federal government’s largest employee union, are evaluating the decision and evaluating the next step, Everett Kelly, the group’s national president, said in a statement.
“Today’s ruling is a set of battles for dignity and fairness for civil servants. But that’s not the end of that fight,” he said. “It’s importantly, this decision didn’t address the fundamental legality of the program.”
White House press chief Caroline Leavitt praised the ruling by a Massachusetts judge. She praised the judge, who was listening to the pending case against the Trump administration, suggested he was a “judicial activist.”
“This Boston acquisition ruling is the first of many legal victories for the president,” Leavitt said in a statement to CNN. “The court resolved the injunction due to lack of status, indicating that it would ultimately not be able to beat the will of President Trump and the 77 million Americans who supported his priorities. Masu.”
O’Toole’s ruling that if they challenge these policies in a federal court, particularly in Washington, D.C., the union would not affect various attempts to stop the Trump administration’s policies.
Unions have made many emergency claims to block government efficiency, focusing on privacy issues, employment and more. O’Toole, in his ruling, the DC Circuit already holds, will not allow the union to go straight to federal district court. Many issues under the Federal Bureau of Labor Relations.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
CNN’s Jeff Zeleny and Katelyn Polantz contributed to this story.
