Judge O'Toole set the Thursday afternoon hearing to consider a request by four federal unions to issue a temporary restraining order that would suspend Thursday's deadline for the buyout and require the Office of Personnel Management to provide a legal basis for the unprecedented offer, which offered to continue to pay federal employees through Sep

The filing argued that the four unions who brought the case can't establish standing to bring the case or demonstrate that the Trump administration is breaking the law by implementing the buyout. If the court issues an injunction, they argued that any relief should be limited to the employees represented by the unions themselves, not the entire fed

"Extending the deadline for the acceptance of deferred resignation on its very last day will markedly disrupt the expectations of the federal workforce, inject tremendous uncertainty into a program that scores of federal employees have already availed themselves of, and hinder the Administration's efforts to reform the federal workforce," the lawsu

"Upon his reelection to office, President Trump immediately set to work to transform the federal workforce," the filing said. "Animating these and other critical reforms is the recognition that the federal workforce must be streamlined to be more efficient and to better serve the American people." ????? ???????  

In a Thursday evening filing following the judge's ruling, lawyers for the Justice Department warned against any further delay of the buyout, telling the judge that extending the delay would have "remarkably disruptive and inequitable repercussions." ????????????