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.”

Last week the organization Democracy Forward filed a lawsuit seeking a restraining order against the buyout program on behalf of American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), AFGE Local 3707, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, and the National Association of Government Employees. 

The plaintiffs claimed the program carried out by OPM does not comply with the law.

“Public service on behalf of the American people is not something to be bought and sold,” said Democracy Forward President and CEO Skye Perryman said in a statement. 

The Trump administration has said eligible federal employees who take the offer could be paid through September and not be exposed to potential future layoffs. But Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) has said the administration cannot guarantee that because the government’s current stopgap funding measure expires in mid-March.

DOE Environmental Management did not respond to  a request for comment as of Friday morning. NNSA forwarded comment requests to DOE headquarters, which has not responded.  The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said it had received a deferred resignation list from the Office of Personnel Management but could not divulge personnel details.

This is a developing story.