'Losing in court left and right': Trump mocked after judge halts federal worker buyout deadline

06 February

Another federal judge just paused another one of President Donald Trump's executive actions from going into effect, and multiple experts, journalists and even federal workers are celebrating on social media.

On Thursday, Boston, Massachusetts-based U.S. District Judge George O'Toole — who was appointed by President Bill Clinton — paused the 11:59 PM EST deadline to Monday for federal workers to accept the Trump administration's offer to quit their jobs in exchange for several months of pay in advance through September. O'Toole's ruling sided with several labor unions representing federal employees who argued that the courts should "require the government to articulate a policy that is lawful, rather than an arbitrary, unlawful, short-fused ultimatum which workers may not be able to enforce."

Despite being the defendants in the lawsuit, the Trump administration celebrated the ruling on behalf of the plaintiffs. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told CNN: "We are grateful to the Judge for extending the deadline so more federal workers who refuse to show up to the office can take the administration up on this very generous, once-in-a-lifetime offer."

But others interpreted O'Toole's ruling more literally. Writer John Thorsson observed that the Trump administration was "taking [losses] in court left and right." Lawrence County, Tennessee election commissioner Chris D. Jackson tweeted: "The Trump administration is losing in court left and right and it's a glorious sight to behold."

"This is the second time a judge has had to pause some action by the Trump [administration] in order to give them time to figure out what the hell they're doing," Albuquerque, New Mexico-based attorney Owen Barcala wrote on Bluesky.

However, the reception among federal workers themselves was mixed. Bryant Platt, who is a geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, explained that he was "actually upset" about the deadline extension. He wrote that he and others had received "a deluge of nasty emails" from billionaire tech CEO Elon Musk's employees urging them to take the buyout.

"I was looking forward to them ending today, but this is going to draw things out," Platt wrote. "I’m very much at the hurry up and fire me or let me get back to doing my job stage."

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