The Trump administration's sweeping overhaul of the federal bureaucracy continues to hit judicial roadblocks. A federal judge has extended a pause to the administration's offer of early resignation to federal workers, and another judge said the administration wasn't following its order to unfreeze federal funds.

   -- Still another court blocked the Trump administration's attempts to cap 
      the money that goes to health research grants. But the Trump 
      administration's relentless drive to remake the federal bureaucracy 
      continued. President Donald Trump named an acting director to the Office 
      of Government Ethics to replace its director. 
 
   -- In the early resignation matter, labor unions are seeking a temporary 
      restraining order to prevent irreparable harm, which Massachusetts 
      District Court Judge George O'Toole Jr. is considering. The court first 
      paused the Office of Personnel Management's deadline last week. 
 
   -- So far, about 65,000 federal employees, less than 3% of the 2.4 million 
      federal civilian workforce, have accepted the early resignation deal. 
      It's a key part of the government's efficiency drive, led by Tesla CEO 
      Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). 
 
   -- According to a cost-cutting tracker posted by DOGE, the resignations will 
      save the government some $30 billion or more than 80% of the total 
      taxpayer dollars saved by the initiative so far. The initial deal offered 
      workers full pay and benefits through Sept. 30 if they submitted their 
      resignations. 

What's Next: Unions contend that the government cannot guarantee the offer, in part because the federal government is only funded through March 14. Partisan divides in Congress make it unclear if a spending bill will pass to fund the government beyond that.

-- Anita Hamilton and Liz Moyer

***

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-- Newsletter edited by Liz Moyer, Patrick O'Donnell, Rupert Steiner

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February 11, 2025 07:21 ET (12:21 GMT)

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