Judge keeps block on Trump’s offer of mass buyouts for US federal workers

Federal employees claim in lawsuit deferred resignation' program is illegal because Congress has not approved it

A federal judge has kept a temporary block on the Trump administration's offer of mass buyouts for more than 2 million government workers while he considers whether the offer is lawful.

After issuing a temporary retraining order extending a deadline last week for federal employees to decide whether to accept the buyout offer, US district judge George O'Toole heard arguments in Boston on Monday in the lawsuit brought by federal workers' unions which claims the administration's deferred resignation" program is illegal because it has not been authorized by Congress. After the arguments, O'Toole said he would keep in place the temporary restraining order while he considers whether to block it longer term.

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