The Trump administration’s Fork in the Road buyout plan just cleared a major legal hurdle, as a federal judge tossed out a last-ditch effort by public sector unions to block the initiative. In a five-page order, U.S. District Judge George A. O’Toole Jr.—a Clinton appointee—effectively dismantled the unions’ case, ruling that they had no standing to challenge the buyout program in court.
The decision immediately enforces the Trump administration’s February 6 deadline for federal employees to participate in the buyout, clearing the way for what is shaping up to be the largest voluntary downsizing of the federal workforce in modern history.
The lawsuit—filed by four public employee unions—was never much of a legal threat to begin with, but it certainly provided some entertainment.
The unions argued that the buyout program somehow harmed them because they were being forced to divert resources toward opposing it. Judge O’Toole was unimpressed.
1) The ACLU believes there are four branches of the government.
2) It’s favorite “branch” is the imaginary one that has zero democratic accountability. https://t.co/bdcahKIVKz— Tim Carney (@TPCarney) February 12, 2025
“Plaintiffs can’t ‘spend their way into standing,’” he ruled. In other words, simply choosing to waste union money on fighting the buyout doesn’t give them a right to sue.
Beyond that, the ruling made it clear that the unions were barking up the wrong legal tree. The court determined that their claims fall under the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute (FSL-MRS), meaning they must first exhaust appeals through the agency and then through the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) before even attempting to take it to federal court.
Translation? The unions just ran into a brick wall.
With this legal roadblock removed, Trump’s aggressive push to streamline the federal workforce is back in full force.
The Fork in the Road buyout plan was designed to offer federal employees a choice:
- Take the buyout and leave with deferred compensation through September 30
- Stay on—but with no guarantees about job security in the coming months
At least 60,000 federal employees have already signed up for the buyout, and that number is expected to grow in the coming weeks. Given the clear direction Trump’s administration is taking, many government employees likely see the writing on the wall and are opting for the exit while they still can.
