Judge unblocks deferred retirement ‘fork,’ OPM closes program

On the same day a federal district judge in Massachusetts lifted his earlier restraining  order against the Donald Trump administration’s deferred retirement program for government workers, the Office of Personnel Management closed out the program.

“The Deferred Resignation Program is now closed,” according to a notice Wednesday on the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) website. “Any resignations received after 7:20pmET, February 12, 2025 will not be accepted.”

The New York Times and other media outlets reported  that 75,000 of around 2 million federal employees eligible for the “fork in the road” buyouts, had agreed to leave the government early for the promise of being paid through Sept. 30. The government is currently funded through a continuing resolution that expires March 14.

There has been rampant speculation through the Department of Energy weapons complex that many senior employees at DOE’s Office of Environmental Management and the semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration might elect to leave.

The early out offer was initially offered by OPM on Jan. 28. U.S. District Judge George O’Toole, Jr. initially put the program’s initial Feb. 6 deadline on hold following legal challenges by federal employee unions.

In a Wednesday order, however, Judge O’Toole concluded the federal employee unions lack legal standing to bring the case.

“The plaintiffs here are not directly impacted by the directive,” the judge held in the five-page ruling. “ Instead, they allege that the directive subjects them to upstream effects including a diversion of resources to answer members’ questions about the directive, a potential loss of membership, and possible reputational harm. … This is not sufficient.”

This is a developing story.