A federal judge on Wednesday cleared the way for President Donald Trump's plans to shrink the number of federal employees through a program that gives them the opportunity to resign in exchange for financial incentives.
Judge George O'Toole Jr. in Boston ruled that some employee unions did not have the legal right to oppose the plan.
Mr. Trump intends to use financial incentives to encourage government employees to resign.
This is a significant legal victory for the Republican president, after a series of court challenges.
"This shows that the strategy of legal processes for political purposes will not prevail over the will of the 77 million Americans who supported President Trump and his priorities," said White House spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt.
It is unclear how many federal employees have accepted the offer to resign in exchange for pay through September 30, but the White House said Friday that the number was 65,000.
The program is led by Elon Musk, who is serving as President Trump's top advisor on cutting federal spending.
The unions say the plan is illegal. They asked Judge O'Toole to suspend it and prevent the Office of Personnel Management from continuing to allow federal government employees to accept the program.
A Justice Department lawyer described the plan as "an emergency exit" for those federal employees who may have organized their lives around working remotely and who are now ordered to return to government offices./VOA (A2 Televizion)
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