US Judge Suspends Trump's Buyout Offer for Federal Employees

A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked a scheme by the Trump administration to whittle down the size of the federal workforce by encouraging federal employees to resign by accepting a buyout package, Reuters reported.

Under the buyout offer, federal workers will receive their regular salaries and benefits until October without being required to work.

The current administration originally set a Feb. 6 deadline for accepting the buyout deal.

With U.S. District Judge George O’Toole’s ruling in Boston, the deadline has been pushed back to Monday, when the judge will consider the legal challenge by labor unions.

More Than 60K Workers Sign Up for Buyout

A White House source told the news agency that more than 60,000 federal employees have accepted the buyout package, representing about 2.5 percent of the 2.3 million federal workforce.

According to the report, federal personnel who opt not to take the package could still lose their jobs.

The administration on Thursday issued a memo directing agency heads across the government to submit by March 7 a list of all staff who received less than a “fully successful” performance rating in the last three years.

The memo also stated that barriers should be removed for agencies to “swiftly terminate poor performing employees.”

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