WASHINGTON — A U.S. federal judge extended the freeze on the Trump administration’s plan to have millions of federal workers resign until he responds “to the issues presented.”
U.S. District Judge George A. O’Toole Jr. said Monday that he would extend the pause until he rules on a preliminary injunction.
Justice Department attorney Eric Hamilton argued that President Donald Trump “campaigned on reducing the federal workforce.”
The Trump administration “knew they’d come to a disappointment to a lot of the workforce … so this would be an off-ramp for those employees,” said Hamilton.
A senior administration official said last week that 60,000 people had accepted the deal.
Despite the setback for the administration, the White House called the move a win.
“We are grateful to the Judge for extending the deadline so more federal workers who refuse to show up to the office can take the Administration up on this very generous, once-in-a-lifetime offer,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
Trump commented Monday night on O’Toole’s decision Monday night, calling the buyouts “generous”.
“I got elected on making government better, more efficient and smaller, and that’s what we’re doing. And I think it was a very generous buyout, actually. Also, if people don’t show up to work, we have a right to fire them,” Trump said, arguing that federal employees cannot work efficiently from home.
