The US judge temporarily suspended President Donald Trump’s plan to provide incentives for federal workers to voluntarily resign before the deadline in midnight on Thursday.
Federal judge George Outol Junior said the plan would stop temporarily until Monday hearing when he could determine the advantages of the lawsuit filed by federal employee unions, CBS, the American partner in the BBC.
The offer is part of an ongoing effort by the Trump administration To reduce the size of the federal government.
The White House says more than 40,000 employees accepted the offer to resign for the payment until September 30. Some workers have crossed confusion about the conditions of the deal.
The matter came hours before Thursday 23:59 EST (04:59 GMT on Friday) for federal workers to accept the offer.
A lawyer of the Ministry of Justice said that federal employees will be notified that the deadline has been temporarily suspended.
The White House seemed to see temporary stop as a way to increase the number of resignations.
“We are grateful to the judge to extend the deadline so that more federal workers who refuse to appear to the office can benefit,” said journalist Caroline Levitte.
The statement of the employee affairs management office (OPM) said that the agency will continue to address the resignations until the deadline of 23:59 local time on Monday.
“The program is not blocked or canceled,” he said. “The government will honor the deferred resignation.”
The Trump administration, who previously said, was hoping to accept up to 200,000 employees, the American media They expected a rise in participation Immediately before the deadline.
“This will rescue an American people from millions of dollars,” Levitte told reporters outside the western wing of the White House before the judge stopped the program.
The American Federation of Government Employees, a union, filed the lawsuit against OPM, on the pretext that it violated the law, that he could not finance the deal, and that it has given conflicting instructions on its conditions.
Al -Ittihad said in an e -mail to members that the offer was part of “an effort to dismantle civil service and replace the professional professional workforce with unqualified political appointed and contractors to win.”
The Union indicated that Congress did not pass a budget for financing after mid -March, on the pretext that it is unclear whether agencies could pay workers until September.
On Thursday, the union said it was “happy” through the judge’s actions.
Some federal employees described their shock in the purchase proposal, which was delivered in the form of an e -mail late at night with the topic line “a thorn on the road”. Some believed that the email was unwanted.
“The first email tone like” you may be cut in any case. “People had pursued it.”
Democrats questioned the legitimacy of the resignation package and warned that it would lead to a “brain migration” that every American will feel.
“Without experience and institutional knowledge that many federal employees bring their work, our government will be unable to respond effectively in national emergency situations, service of the American public, or even routine operations,” the Democrats on the House of Representatives Supervisors of the House of Representatives wrote. . A message to President Trump.
On Tuesday, the Central Intelligence Agency became the first national security administration to provide the offer to its employees. Former US intelligence officials and many legislators raised fears that this offer may undermine US national security.
There are also reports of imminent discounts to the National Oceanic and Calf Administration (NOAA), the weather mobility agency, and the Ministry of Health and Humanitarian Services.