A programme designed to shrink the number of US government employees by incentivising resignations has closed to new volunteers.
The announcement was made on Wednesday evening shortly after a judge ruled the programme, which offered workers eight months of pay if they resign – essentially a buyout – could move ahead.
US District Judge George O’Toole in Boston reversed an earlier ruling, in which he had paused the Trump administration’s plan. He said on Wednesday that unions who sued to stop the programme did not have legal standing to sue.
About 75,000 federal employees opted into the buyout programme before it was closed, US media reports indicate.