A US federal judge in Boston entered an order on Wednesday to dissolve a temporary restraining order that blocked US President Donald Trump’s government employee buyout offer.

Judge George A. O’Toole of the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts found that the labor unions who filed a complaint against the directive lacked standing. Judge O’Toole stated:

The plaintiffs here are not directly impacted by the directive. Instead, they allege that the directive subjects them to upstream effects including a diversion of resources to answer members’ questions about the directive, a potential loss of membership, and possible reputational harm. 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.

Additionally, the judge found that the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts lacked subject matter jurisdiction, and therefore the court could not consider the plaintiffs’ claims.

The US Office of Personnel Management announced the program to federal employees on January 28, providing them with the option to accept a “deferred resignation” offer in which they would resign their positions in exchange for retaining full pay and benefits through September 30, 2025.

Earlier this month, four labor unions filed a complaint against the offer, which is known as the Fork Directive, on behalf of federal employees who would be impacted by the decision. The unions claimed that the directive “threatens employees with eventual job loss in the event they refuse to resign.” Judge O’Toole initially blocked the Fork Directive to provide the unions with an opportunity to reply to defense briefs.

The Deferred Resignation Program closed after the order was entered. Any further resignations that were received after 7:20 pm EST on February 12, 2025, were not accepted. According to CNN, some 77,000 workers accepted the package.