A federal judge ruled in President Donald Trump’s favor by reinstating his “Fork in the Road” deferred resignation offer, allowing federal employees the option to resign from their positions with full benefits and pay until September.
Judge George O’Toole ruled that the plaintiffs, several labor unions, lacked a “direct stake” in Trump’s directive.
“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,” O’Toole, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, wrote. “This is not sufficient.”
O’Toole temporarily blocked Trump’s resignation offer on Feb. 6, which was the deadline federal workers were given to opt in. At that time, at least 40,000 government workers, or 2% of the federal work force, decided to take Trump’s offer.
The plaintiffs of the suit were the the American Federation of Government Employees, the National Association of Government Employees, and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees. They argued that the “Fork in the Road” offer lacked legal authorization, violates the Administrative Procedure Act, and deceived federal workers since funding for the federal government is only guaranteed through mid-March.
O’Toole did not rule on whether or not “Fork in the Road” was legal but instead whether the labor unions had legal standing to block the initiative. He also determined that “this Court does not have subject matter jurisdiction over the claims asserted.”
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Trump’s deferred resignation offer is part of his larger goal to shrink the size of the federal government. He has faced several legal challenges to his executive orders and other efforts, but secured another victory on Wednesday.
In a separate court decision, a federal judge ruled that Trump has authority to pause federal spending so as long as it complies with existing statutes and regulations.
