About 75,000 federal workers have signed up for buyouts.
A federal judge on Feb. 12 allowed the buyout program for government workers initiated by the Trump administration to proceed, ruling against unions that sued to block it.
Here’s what to know.
Plaintiffs Failed to Show Standing
Unions said they were entitled to a restraining order against the buyouts because they would be forced to expend resources that could not be recovered to help their members as they navigated the program.
The unions also said that if the buyouts went through, they could “lose members in significant numbers.”
However, those alleged harms aren’t enough to show standing or a personal stake in the dispute, U.S. District Judge George O’Toole wrote in his ruling.
“The plaintiffs here are not directly impacted by the directive. 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 said.
“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.”
No More Applications Being Accepted
The buyout offer, titled “Fork in the Road,” was first offered on Jan. 28. Government officials said in the message that workers would be required to return to in-person work five days a week, that many federal agencies would likely be downsized in the future, and that federal employees should be “reliable, loyal, trustworthy, and … strive for excellence in their daily work.”
The offer said that federal workers could resign and retain all pay and benefits until Sept. 30, 2025.
In a statement after the ruling was handed down, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) said the program is not accepting further applications.
“The Deferred Resignation Program is now closed,” it stated. “Any resignations received after 7:20pmET, February 12, 2025 will not be accepted.”
About 75,000 Workers Have Signed Up
About 75,000 workers have signed up for the buyout, a spokesperson for OPM said.
That’s equal to 3 percent of the civilian workforce.
The offer to pay salaries and benefits until the end of September may not be ironclad. Current spending laws expire on March 14, and there is no guarantee that salaries will be funded beyond that point.
Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, one of the unions that brought the suit, said in a statement on Wednesday that the program amounted to an “unfunded IOU.”
The OPM said on its website that workers will receive full pay and benefits through Sept. 30.
“You will also continue to accrue annual leave and sick leave during the deferred resignation period until you separate. You will be paid a lump sum for accrued but unused annual leave upon separation,” the site states.
New Lawsuit
In a new suit filed in federal court in Washington earlier on Wednesday, five unions asked a judge to block what they called the possible mass firing of hundreds of thousands of federal employees who have not accepted buyouts.
The unions accused the White House and others in the executive branch of undermining Congress’s role in creating and funding a federal workforce, violating separation of powers principles.
The plaintiffs include the United Auto Workers, the National Treasury Employees Union, the National Federation of Federal Employees, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, and the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers.
“The Unions bring this action on behalf of themselves because the Executive actions described above will end the federal employment of tens of thousands of their members. That will hurt the Unions financially and in terms of their influence at the bargaining table,” the suit states.
President Donald Trump and a number of federal officials are named as defendants.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Reuters contributed to this report.