The Trump administration achieved a notable legal success on Thursday when a federal judge ruled in favor of its federal workforce buyout initiative, which is designed to reduce government employment. This decision represents a pivotal development in President Donald Trump’s ongoing efforts to downsize the federal government, a key objective of his administration since his return to the White House.
The program, referred to as the “Fork in the Road” initiative, provides federal employees with a severance package equivalent to approximately eight months of salary and benefits if they choose to resign voluntarily by a designated deadline. To date, around 75,000 federal employees—approximately 3% of the civilian workforce—have accepted this offer, marking the largest voluntary reduction in workforce in recent history.
President Trump has consistently criticized the federal bureaucracy for its inefficiency and perceived bias against him. His administration has directed government agencies to prepare for extensive job cuts, with some departments already initiating layoffs of recent hires who do not possess full job security.
This program was developed with contributions from billionaire entrepreneur and DOGE leader Elon Musk, who provides advice on reducing government expenditures, with the goal of streamlining operations and decreasing federal costs.
“Seventy-five thousand individuals have accepted the buyout program. This will result in significant savings for American taxpayers, which is precisely our aim,” stated Karoline Leavitt to reporters on Thursday. “We established a deadline, and that deadline has been met. Seventy-five thousand individuals accepted the offer.”
A ruling by U.S. District Judge George O’Toole Jr. in Boston removed the temporary restraining order that had been placed on the program the previous week. In his ruling, Judge O’Toole concluded that the unions representing federal employees did not possess the legal standing to contest the directive, as the resignation offer did not have a direct effect on them.
“The plaintiffs in this case are not directly affected by the directive,” O’Toole noted in his ruling. “Rather, they claim that the directive subjects them to…”
The unions lack the necessary direct interest in the Fork Directive; however, they are contesting a policy that impacts others, particularly employees within the executive branch. “This is inadequate,” the judge remarked.
The directive permits certain executive branch employees to resign by September 30, 2025, while continuing to receive their salaries until the conclusion of the fiscal year, along with the opportunity to seek other employment. The unions contended that the directive violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and requested a temporary restraining order to suspend the February 6 deadline for employees to accept the offer.
Initially, the court stayed the enforcement of the deadline but ultimately ruled against the unions, lifting the restraining order and denying any further injunctive relief. The judge’s ruling enables the program to move forward as intended, allowing the thousands of federal employees who have already chosen to participate in the buyout to formally resign from their positions.
This ruling represents a legal victory for Trump, whose administration has encountered numerous judicial challenges to its policy measures. In recent weeks, the administration has been involved in legal disputes concerning executive orders, regulatory rollbacks, and personnel decisions, with courts often obstructing or postponing significant policies.
