USA Severance plans: Trump wins important victory in court
US President Donald Trump's program of mass severance pay for civil servants has cleared an important hurdle in court.
13.02.2025, 04:20
SDA
A federal court in Boston rejected a petition filed by trade unions to temporarily halt the program. The unions did not have standing to sue, the court ruled.
Generous severance payments
Trump wants to get rid of tens of thousands of civil servants with the program, which was largely developed by tech billionaire Elon Musk. Around 65,000 of the approximately two million eligible government employees had agreed to accept the offer by last week. The program provides for generous severance payments, but has not yet been fully funded.
Trump only signed a decree on Tuesday that obliges the federal authorities in the USA to cooperate with Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) and to significantly reduce their staffing levels.
First victory for Trump
Following a number of court defeats, the decision in Boston is seen as the first major victory for the Trump administration in court in the dispute over plans to comprehensively restructure the state apparatus. Shortly beforehand, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt had complained about the courts in no uncertain terms and even accused them of abusing their power.
"District judges in liberal districts across the country are abusing their power to unilaterally block President Trump's executive power," said White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt in Washington.
The real constitutional crisis is in the judiciary, not the White House, she said. "We believe these judges are acting as judicial activists rather than as honest impartial enforcers of the law." In the past 14 days, twelve injunctions have already been issued against decisions by the president or the government. This is nothing more than the instrumentalization of the judiciary as a weapon against Trump.
