Judge Lifts Hold on ‘Fork in the Road’ Federal Worker Offer (2)

A federal judge ruled President Donald Trump‘s offer for federal employees to resign voluntarily can move forward, at least temporarily clearing a path for his administration to shrink agencies.

The American Federation of Government Employees, the union that sued to stop the offer, doesn’t have standing to challenge it, Judge George O’Toole of the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts wrote. The unions do not have a “direct stake” in the exit deal, O’Toole wrote.

The federal Office of Personnel Management is no longer accepting resignations from federal employees, spokeswoman McLaurine Pinover said after the ruling. She called the union’s lawsuit a “desperate effort.”

The decision is a legal setback for AFGE, the nation’s largest union for federal workers. The union launched several lawsuits in recent weeks seeking to block Trump and billionaire Elon Musk‘s effort to disrupt federal agencies and reduce the government workforce.

The union is “assessing next steps,” said AFGE President Everett Kelley in a statement.

“This decision did not address the underlying lawfulness of the program,” he said.

O’Toole, a President Bill Clinton appointee, said aggrieved workers must first bring their complaints to their employer and any relevant review boards before turning to the courts.

The OPM in January offered employees the option to quit voluntarily and keep their pay through Sept. 30. More than 50,000 employees signed on as of Feb. 7. The offer is known as the “Fork in the Road.”

In exchange, they must waive their right to challenge the arrangement in court, according to a Feb. 4 statement from OPM, forcing them to trust the Trump administration will honor the deal.

The case is AFGE v. Ezell, D. Mass., No. 25-cv-10276, 2/12/25.