Judge restores Trump administration's buyout offer to federal workers

A federal judge restored President Donald Trump's deferred resignation program for federal workers in a decision on Wednesday.

The deferred resignation program, also known as the administration's "fork in the road" offer, involved asking government workers to either stay or leave after Trump mandated them to return to their offices shortly after his inauguration. The legal group Democracy Forward had filed a lawsuit over the program on behalf of labor unions that represent thousands of employees. 

U.S. District Judge George O’Toole of Massachusetts made the ruling in favor of the White House on Wednesday evening. In his decision, who wrote that the plaintiffs in the case "are not directly impacted by the directive," and denied their case on that basis.