Federal judge delays Trump buyout for government employees

After Trump took over the White House, he made it clear that excessive government employment was no longer going to be a thing.

As part of his plan, Trump offered a buyout to workers who did not want to work during his administration, but the deadline for that offer has just been extended by a judge.

Get Out

Trump wants to scale back the government payroll, currently the largest employer in the country.

As an incentive, Trump was offering a very lucrative buyout plan that would give workers about eight months in salary to walk away from their government jobs.

To further encourage people to accept the offer, they received a message that stated, "We cannot give you full assurance regarding the certainty of your position or agency but should your position be eliminated you will be treated with dignity.”

When Trump made the offer, Democrats immediately pushed back, with Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) stating, "If you accept that offer and resign, he'll stiff you just like he stiffed contractors. He doesn't have any authority to do this. Do not be fooled by this guy."

I’ll Take It

The takers for the buyout were a little slow at first, but when they realized Trump meant business, the signups came fast and furious.

As of the writing of this report, roughly 60,000 people have signed up to take the severance package.

Morale in government agencies is getting crushed, with one Treasury Executive stating, "In the halls most people are stopping to ask one another what their decision will be, with many people saying they are scared because we are caught between two bad choices and very little time to make the decision.”

Unions are continuing to fight the offer and threat of so many employees losing their federal jobs, but Trump is going to stick this one out in order to downsize the government.

Judge Delays the Deadline

On Thursday, with the deadline looming, word came down that a federal judge was pushing back the deadline for Trump’s offer to Monday.

U.S. District Judge George O’Toole Jr. did not get into whether Trump’s offer was legal or not, but with lawsuits now pending, the deadline could be pushed back even further next week.

As noted above, numerous unions are fighting the threat, including the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE).

The gravy train, as they say, is over. I truly hope that Trump does not lose this battle because I would love to see the government purge all this payroll. While it will be a huge hit in the first year, think of all that money that will be saved in salary and benefits with all that dead weight removed.