WASHINGTON, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. federal judge on Monday extended a pause on the deadline for roughly two million federal workers to accept the Trump administration's "buyout" offer, which gives seven months of salary to those who opt to leave their jobs.

 

On Thursday, just hours before the acceptance deadline, Judge George A. O'Toole Jr. from the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts temporarily halted the administration's "buyout" plan.

 

After a hearing on Monday, the federal judge said that the pause would continue until he ruled on the legality of the "deferred resignation" plan.

 

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announced the program in a statement on Jan. 28, with the original deadline set for Feb. 6. "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," the statement read.

 

More than 60,000 employees have already agreed to resign as part of President Donald Trump's effort to rapidly reduce the government workforce, according to a report by NBC news. That accounts for roughly 3 percent of the 2 million federal employees deemed eligible for "deferred resignation."

 

Labor unions have challenged the "buyout" program, arguing that OPM overstepped its authority by guaranteeing pay and benefits until the end of September, especially since Congress had only approved funding for most federal agencies until March 14.