Federal Workers’ Bid to Bar Resignation Emails Fails For Now (2)

The Trump administration defeated for now a request from two unnamed federal employees to stop emailing all civilian staff at once.

The employees aren’t entitled to a temporary restraining order Thursday in their case alleging the US Office of Personnel Management, the federal government’s HR office, violated privacy protections when it set up the government-wide email system, Judge Randolph D. Moss of the US District Court for the District of Columbia ruled.

After the government submitted to the court a Privacy Impact Assessment on Wednesday, the case before Moss changed, he said at a hearing Thursday before denying the motion as moot. Kel B. McClanahan, counsel for the plaintiffs, argued that the PIA was “false evidence.”

A new hearing was scheduled for Feb 14. Plaintiffs must file a new motion by Friday. The government must respond before Feb. 11, and a reply must come in by Feb. 13.

OPM used the system to ask nearly all civilian public employees to voluntarily resign by Thursday. Workers that agree will receive their salaries and benefits through Sept. 30, with the possibility their agencies will lessen their workload, according to OPM’s email to federal employees.

The offer is part of Trump’s broader effort to slash the federal workforce. As of Wednesday night, 40,000 federal workers had agreed to leave—about 2% of the federal civilian workforce.

The email system allows senior Trump administration officials to communicate directly with staff across the government, rather than relying on managers to distribute information.

OPM is a target for hackers. The office revealed in 2015 that hackers breached its computers and stole personal data for about 22.1 million people.

McClanahan, executive director of the public-interest firm National Security Counselors, argued for the plaintiffs.

The case is Doe v. Office of Personnel Management, D.D.C., No. 1:25-cv-00234, hearing 2/6/25.