Massachusetts federal judge issues restraining order on deadline for over 2 million government employees
Saturday, February 8, 2025
Washington (News / Latest News - International Press Agency. February 8, 2025) A US court judge has suspended a plan to reduce the size of the US government by Elon Musk, the head of the Department of Government Efficiency established by President Trump, under which federal employees were encouraged to leave their jobs on a large scale.
According to a report by the French agency, a federal judge in Massachusetts has issued a temporary injunction on the deadline given by Elon Musk to more than 2 million government employees in the country, under which federal employees were offered to leave their jobs with 8 months of pay, or face being fired in the future. This deadline has been extended until Monday when District Judge George O’Toole will hear the merits of the case filed by labor unions.
President Donald Trump’s biggest donor, Elon Musk, is in charge of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an independent agency that aims to reduce the size of government and increase efficiency. More than 40,000 employees have accepted the deal so far, according to White House press secretary Carolyn Levitt, a relatively small number. Unions representing about 800,000 government employees and Democratic members of Congress oppose the scheme and have challenged the legality of the threats to fire government employees. The sweeping campaign to cut the US budget, which is supported by Trump and his aides and has angered anti-government activists, has already hit major departments and agencies that have run everything from education to national intelligence for decades. The government’s humanitarian aid agency, USAID, has been paralyzed, with foreign staff ordered home, and its programs under daily and often inaccurate criticism from the White House and right-wing media. A union official confirmed reports that the agency’s global workforce will be cut from 10,000 to less than 300.
Randy Chester, vice president of the American Foreign Service Association, told reporters that “eventually we will have to stop distributing food because we won’t have the people to make sure the food is actually being distributed.” Robin Thurston of Democracy Forward, who has sued the Trump administration over mass layoffs at USAID, criticized the Trump administration’s “illegitimate takeover of USAID” as a clear violation of fundamental constitutional principles of separation of powers.
The official of the agency that manages government property said that the real estate portfolio, excluding the Defense Department buildings, should be cut by at least 50 percent. Lovett told reporters that federal employees should accept the most generous offer of deferred resignation. He said that good alternatives will be found for those who want to eliminate the American people. One of the controversies surrounding Elon Musk’s plan is how much access the South African-born technology tycoon is getting to confidential government data, including the entire treasury payment system.
It should be noted that US President Donald Trump has been a strong critic of US agencies that run aid programs in other countries, including USAID. Since his election campaign and assuming the presidency, Trump has been of the opinion that USAID is a waste of taxpayer money and that he wants to close it. His administration is cutting the budgets of many government agencies in order to reduce government spending.
After the announcement of the closure of USAID, reports emerged that the agency would now operate as a branch of the US Department of State. The Trump administration intends to significantly reduce its funding and staffing. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused the USAID leadership of disobeying orders and said that he was now the interim head of the agency.
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