The judge stops the Plan to Purchase of Trump government workers

An American judge has temporarily arrested President Donald Trump’s plan that offers incentives to federal workers to voluntarily resign before a midnight deadline on Thursday.

Federal judge George O’Toole JR said the plan would stop until a hearing on Monday when he could determine the merits of a lawsuit filed by federal employee unions, reports CBS, the US partner of the BBC.

The offer is part of a continuous effort of the Trump administration To cut the size of the federal government.

The White House says that more than 40,000 employees have accepted the offer to resign in exchange for payment until September 30, although some expressed confusion about the terms of the agreement.

The order occurred hours before the deadline of 23:59 ET (04:59 GMT Friday) for federal workers to accept the agreement.

A justice department lawyer said federal employees would be notified that the deadline had been arrested, CBS reported.

The White House, in a statement, seemed to see temporary arrest as a way to increase the number of resignations.

“We are grateful to the judge for extending the deadline for more federal workers who refuse to appear to the office can take the administration to this very generous offer, unique in life,” said press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

An official of the Personnel Management Office (OPM) said the agency would continue to process resignations until Monday.

The Trump administration, who previously said that he hoped that up to 200,000 people would accept their offer, told the US media They expected an increase in participation Just before the deadline.

“Dozens of millions of dollars will save the American people,” Leavitt told journalists outside the west of the White House before the judge stopped the program.

“If you don’t want to appear to the office, if you want to scam the American people, then they are welcome to take this purchase, and we will find highly competent people who want to occupy these roles,” she said.

The US Federation of Government employees, a union, filed the lawsuit against OPM, arguing that it had violated the law, which could not finance the agreement and that had granted a contradictory guidance on its terms.

The union had said in an email to the members that the offer was part of an “effort to dismantle the civil service and replace the professional workforce qualified with appointed unqualified politicians and contractors for profit.”

The union said that Congress has not approved a budget for funds beyond mid -March, arguing that it was not clear if agencies could pay workers until September.

Some federal employees had said that the purchase proposal, delivered in the form of a night email with the “bifurcation on the road” matter line, was a shock. They worried about the unanswered questions and their legality, which has accumulated uncertainty in the face of an agitated start to Trump’s second mandate.

“The tone of the initial email was like ‘can be cut anyway,” said Monet Hepp, a medical support specialist at the United States Veterans Affairs Department. “People were surprised by that.”

Some employees thought that email was spam, since it was a diversion of typical government communications. Some departments had to verify employees their authenticity.

The Democrats have questioned the legality of the resignation package and warned that it would lead to a “brain leak” that would be “feeling every American.”

“Without the experience and institutional knowledge that so many federal employees contribute to their work, our government will be unable to respond effectively to national emergencies, serving the American public or even carrying out routine operations,” the committee of the committee of the committee wrote of supervision of the chamber of a letter to President Trump.

On Tuesday, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) became the first National Security Department to extend the offer to its staff. The former intelligence officials of the United States and several legislators have expressed concern that this offer could undermine the national security priorities of the United States.

There are also reports that the Trump Administration Efficiency Department (Doge) is pointing to the Oceanic and Atmospheric National Administration.

The United States government agency has the task of forecasting time, monitoring conditions in the ocean and atmosphere and fishing management and protections for marine life in danger of extinction. He directs the National Meteorological Center, which has prognosis offices in cities and states of the United States and helps predict everything from tornadoes to hurricanes.

Those who work for Doge, led by billionaire Elon Musk, have been within the NOAA offices and have been told to employees to wait for a budget and personnel reductions, sources told CBS.