Talk about handing your wife’s most intense competitor a major helping hand.
As that is precisely what former President Bill Clinton did when he appointed Judge George O’Toole.
Especially as O’Toole has turned out to be a major league asset in propelling President Donald Trump’s administration objectives forward, notably the “Fork in the Road” program.
This program not only directly aligns with Trump’s objective to reduce the federal government in terms of its scope and scale, but it also provides federal workers with significant autonomy in doing so.
Indeed, a detailed announcement from the United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM) provides federal workers with a “buyout” opportunity, in which they can voluntarily leave the federal workforce in exchange for benefits and pay via a “deferred resignation program” through the end of September.
“If you choose not to continue in your current role in the federal workforce, we thank you for your service to your country and you will be provided with a dignified, fair departure from the federal government utilizing a deferred resignation program. This program began effective January 28 and is now closed. If you resign under this program, you will retain all pay and benefits regardless of your daily workload and will be exempted from all applicable in-person work requirements until September 30, 2025 (or earlier if you choose to accelerate your resignation for any reason),” the OPM announced on its official webpage.
Acting OPM Director Charles Ezell also reinforced the buyout offering, noting that all employees who choose voluntary resignation will enjoy the benefits of paid administrative leave for multiple months.
“Employees who accept deferred resignation should promptly have their duties re-assigned or eliminated and be placed on paid administrative leave until the end of the deferred resignation period (generally, September 30, 2025, unless the employee has elected another earlier resignation date), unless the agency head determines that it is necessary for the employee to be actively engaged in transitioning job duties, in which case employees should be placed on administrative leave as soon as those duties are transitioned,” Ezell wrote.
Now, that’s a transition that everyone should be able to get behind … everyone interested in not seeing the national debt skyrocket to ever more unsustainable levels, that is.
Naturally, the mainstream media had been freaking out ever since Trump proposed a sensible buyout program … especially after a court temporarily froze the buyout program due to a union’s complaint.
“How the courts have (so far) pushed back on Trump’s attempts to expand presidential power,” PBS News reported.
Predictably, the media outlet also quoted from various professors to solidify its anti-Trump stance.
Steve Vladeck, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center, basically
“The collapse of any congressional pushback, any congressional responsibility, I think is an ominous sign for what would happen if this administration starts openly defying court orders,” Vladeck predicted.
Well, as it turns out, Trump did not have to defy any court orders at all … as O’Toole, the longstanding Clinton appointee, swung straight in his favor.
“The unions do not have the required direct stake in the Fork Directive, but are challenging a policy that affects others, specifically executive branch employees. This is not sufficient,” O’Toole remarked flatly.
In other words, the union has no legal footing to stand on, whatsoever, but it counts on the mass media to continue its anti-Trump narrative.
Naturally, Everett Kelly, who serves as president of the American Federation of Government Employees
“Today’s ruling is a setback in the fight for dignity and fairness for public servants. But it’s not the end of that fight,” Kelly raged.
Dignity and fairness? The buyout program is voluntary.
Moreover, companies trim or drastically reduce their workforces all the time, including several Big Tech companies, but the Dems didn’t rake them over the coals then.
Then again, that was back in the time when Big Tech was always doing the Dems’ bidding … until they decided to become more neutral towards the side that was winning.
“This Boston Buyout Ruling is the first of many legal wins for the President. The Court dissolved the injunction due to a lack of standing. This goes to show that lawfare will not ultimately prevail over the will of 77 million Americans who supported President Trump and his priorities,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt declared.
And may those wins continue …
Author: Jane Jones
