Fork in the Road Goes Ahead as Agencies Told to Prep for Layoffs
The Trump Administration officially closed the deferred resignation offer for federal employees, after a federal judge in Massachusetts lifted his earlier hold on the program.
Immediately after the decision from federal judge George O’Toole, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announced that the program was closed, and about 77,000 federal employees accepted the deferred resignation offer. That amounts to less than four percent of the federal workforce, short of the administration’s five to ten percent goal.
Judge O’Toole ruled that unions who sued to stop the program, lacked standing.
“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,” Judge O’Toole wrote.
“There is no longer any doubt,” said OPM spokesperson McLaurine Pinover. “The Deferred Resignation Program was both legal and a valuable option for federal employees.”
However, Judge O’Toole did not note in his ruling whether the program is legal.
The offer, detailed in the “Fork in the Road” email to federal employees, allows employees to go on administrative leave through September 30, when their resignations become official.
Meanwhile, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), said it’s not giving up the fight.
“We continue to maintain it is illegal to force American citizens who have dedicated their careers to public service to make a decision, in a few short days, without adequate information, about whether to uproot their families and leave their careers for what amounts to an unfunded IOU from Elon Musk,” said AFGE President Everett Kelley in a statement.
Agencies Ordered to Prepare for Layoffs
The decision on Fork in the Road comes a day after President Trump signed a sweeping executive order to trim the federal workforce and ordered agencies to prepare for large scale layoffs, otherwise known as Reductions in Force (RIFs).
The president signed the order in the Oval Office alongside billionaire special government employee Elon Musk, who leads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The executive order requires federal agencies to work with DOGE to "undertake plans for large-scale reductions in force" and limit hiring only to “essential positions.”
Agencies are ordered to submit plans for the layoffs to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) within 30 days.
Employees who work on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives as well as additional functions the president suspends or closes, are priorities to be let go. The order tells agencies to prioritize dismissals for employees who are “performing functions not mandated by statute or other law who are not typically designated as essential” during a government shutdown.
In terms of future hiring, agencies will be allowed to replace one out of every four employees who leave. Hiring will also be restricted to essential positions.
The order specifies that the reductions would not apply to public safety, immigration enforcement or law enforcement positions.