Judge pauses Trump's federal buyout offers as deadline for employee decisions arrives

[DinguTaka]

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/live-blog/trump-national-prayer-breakfast-live-updates-rcna190379

 

The number of federal workers who've accepted buyouts hits 60K

More than 60,000 federal workers have now accepted Trump's controversial buyout offers ahead of what had been tonight’s midnight deadline, a senior administration official told NBC News.

That's a one-day jump of nearly 20,000 workers who have taken the so-called buyouts, which Democratic lawmakers have warned were not authorized and might not be funded.

A federal judge this afternoon temporarily blocked the program after labor unions challenged it. The judge said the pause will allow both sides to submit arguments.

Judge temporarily halts Trump's federal employee buyout program

A federal judge in Boston has temporarily blocked the government from implementing mass buyouts at federal agencies, at least until Monday. 

U.S. District Judge George A. O’Toole Jr. announced during a short hearing on Thursday that he was blocking the “fork in the road” buyout program temporarily to allow the parties more time to brief their arguments. A hearing on federal labor unions’ request for a temporary restraining order more fully blocking the program will be held Monday at 2 p.m. 

As part of this temporary injunction, federal agencies will be required to notify employees who received the buyout offer that it has been blocked until Monday.