US judge clears the way for tens of thousands of federal workers to take Trump buyout

[Dulcinea]

BOSTON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of U.S. civil servants were cleared to take a buyout from Donald Trump's administration on Wednesday after a federal judge ruled the unprecedented downsizing effort could proceed.

About 75,000 workers have signed up for the buyout, said a spokesperson for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, equal to 3% of the civilian workforce. Trump's administration has promised to pay their salaries through October without requiring them to work, though unions have warned the offer is not trustworthy.


Unions representing federal workers had sued to stop the program, and had delayed it for six days while U.S. District Judge George O'Toole in Boston considered the issue. But the judge ruled on Wednesday that the unions did not have legal standing to bring the lawsuit and said the issue needed to be tackled in other forums before landing in court.

The administration said the program is now closed to new applicants.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-judge-allows-trump-proceed-225131723.html?.tsrc=daily_mail&segment_id=DY_VTO_CORE&ncid=crm_19908-1475736-20250213-0&bt_user_id=u5o0dMnPAB7xgUl4Pw7oGDN3Y%2BwTf7CgLnhpRK2ip26ZKqBJr79HUsMEa7rLQpaB&bt_ts=1739448098746

[Lovie777]

1. Buy out?....

with whose money? And when that does not happen who’s gonna be blamed and when will they get their money.

Anywho, back to the courts again.

[Igel]

4. For a while NPR managed to get it right--it's not a buyout.

The real issue is whether there can be extended administrative leave that exceeds what's set by ... I forget if it's contract, regulation, or statute. Then again, most of the time admin leave is punitive so this is arguably just to prevent abuse of employees by their managers.

There's no separate pool of money for the "buyouts".

Lately either NPR central or a lot of syndicated shows that air on "my" local NPR station have taken up the incorrect terminology.

[yaesu]

2. When there are no longer checks and balances left, no more 3 branches of government

This is what you get, it will only get worse.

[lark]

3. Fuck that fascist supporting judge!

There is no money appropriate for it, Congress didn't approve it but the judge just makes an unlawful decision out of thin air to appease the head fascist.

[Ocelot II]

5. The judge wasn't wrong. He said the union didn't have standing because

standing requires a showing of direct harm. The court also said it didn't have subject matter jurisdiction because certain administrative procedures must be followed before going to court. He did not rule on the merits of the claim.

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. 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. Just as the Court found that the plaintiffs in Hippocratic Medicine could not spend their way into standing, neither can the plaintiffs in this case establish standing by choosing to divert resources towards“respond[ing] to tremendous uncertainty created by OPM’s actions” and away from other union priorities. (Pls.’ Mem. in Supp. of TRO 17.) Moreover, a loss of membership dues to the unions is not certain before the September 30th deadline.

Second, this Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction to consider the plaintiffs’ pleaded claims. Congress intended for the FSL-MRS and the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978(“CSRA”), of which the FSL-MRS is a part, to provide the exclusive procedures for disputes involving employees and their federal employers and disputes between unions representing federal employees and the federal government. According to this complex scheme, disputes must first be administratively exhausted before the employing agency and the relevant administrative review board.

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25523906-otooleord021225/

We can't be like Trump and accuse a judge of being biased or illegitimate or the decision being "illegal" just because we don't like the outcome. Also the case isn't over.