Happy New Year 2025

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Roughly 75,000 federal employees agree to Trump’s buyout offer

Roughly 75,000 federal employees have accepted President Donald Trump’s deferred resignation program, after the U.S. Office of Personnel Management offered more than 2 million federal civilian employees buyouts in January to leave their jobs or be forced to return to work in person.

Employees who accepted the so-called “fork in the road” offer will retain all pay and benefits and be exempt from in-person work until Sept. 30, a move that’s part of a broader attempt by the Trump administration to downsize the federal government.

“We have too many people,” Trump told reporters Tuesday in a press briefing. “We have office spaces occupied by 4% – nobody showing up to work because they were told not to.”

The White House confirmed to Fox News Digital that numbers had climbed to 75,000 as of Thursday morning.

JUDGE RESTORES TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S BUYOUT OFFER TO FEDERAL WORKERS

Roughly 75,000 federal employees have accepted President Donald Trump’s deferred resignation program. (Fox News/Special Report)

The Trump administration’s offer faced scrutiny, and a federal judge temporarily blocked the administration’s plan from advancing amid challenges from labor union groups who voiced concerns that the law didn’t require the Trump administration to hold up its end of the deal.

However, U.S. District Judge George O’Toole of Massachusetts ruled in favor of the White House Wednesday evening, asserting the plaintiffs in the case aren’t directly impacted by the Trump administration’s offer.

They “allege that the directive subjects them to upstream effects including a diversion of resources to answer members’ questions about the directive, a potential loss of membership, and possible reputational harm,” O’Toole wrote.

“The unions do not have the required direct stake in the Fork Directive, but are challenging a policy that affects others, specifically executive branch employees,” O’Toole wrote. “This is not sufficient.”

The Trump administration praised the court’s decision, and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt described it as “the first of many legal wins for the president.”

‘GET BACK TO WORK’: HOUSE OVERSIGHT TO TAKE ON GOVERNMENT TELEWORK IN 1ST HEARING OF NEW CONGRESS

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt described the court ruling as “the first of many legal wins for the president.” (Evan Vucci/The Associated Press)

“The court dissolved the injunction due to a lack of standing,” Leavitt said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “This goes to show that lawfare will not ultimately prevail over the will of 77 million Americans who supported President Trump and his priorities.”

The buyout program is one of several initiatives the Trump administration has unveiled to cut down the federal workforce. On Tuesday, Trump also signed an executive order instructing the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to coordinate with federal agencies and execute massive cuts in federal workforce staffing numbers.

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The order instructs DOGE and federal agencies to work together to “significantly” shrink the size of the federal government and limit hiring new employees, according to a White House fact sheet on the order. Specifically, agencies must not hire more than one employee for every four that leave their federal post.

Agencies also are instructed to “undertake plans for large-scale reductions in force” and evaluate ways to eliminate or combine agency functions that aren’t legally required, the fact sheet said.

Fox News’ Andrea Margolis, Jake Gibson, Jacqui Heinrich and Patrick Ward contributed to this report.

Diana Stancy is a politics reporter with Fox News Digital covering the White House.

February 13, 2025
Blue Origin laying off roughly 10% of staff

Cantor Fitzgerald senior equity analyst Andres Sheppard discusses President Donald Trump’s space ambitions and priorities on ‘Making Money.’

Jeff Bezos-founded space company Blue Origin plans to lay off about 10% of its workforce, according to a company-wide email obtained by FOX Business.

Employees in some engineering, research and development, and “program/project management” positions will lose their jobs in the layoffs, according to the email from CEO Dave Limp. He told employees in the message that the company is also “thinning out our layers of management.”

“Our primary focus in 2025 and beyond is to scale our manufacturing output and launch cadence with speed, decisiveness, and efficiency for our customers,” Limp said. “We grew and hired incredibly fast in the last few years, and with that growth came more bureaucracy and less focus than we needed. It also became clear that the makeup of our organization must change to ensure our roles are best aligned with executing these priorities.”

The planned layoffs were earlier reported by Reuters.

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General view of the Blue Origin site, on the day the Blue Origin’s rocket New Shepard blasts off on billionaire Jeff Bezos’s company’s fourth suborbital tourism flight with a six-person crew near Van Horn, Texas, U.S., March 31, 2022. (REUTERS/Ivan Pierre Aguirre / Reuters)

The company was formed in 2000. Almost 14,000 people work for Blue Origin, according to Reuters.

Limp said in the email that he remains “extremely confident” in the “enormous opportunities” ahead for Blue Origin.

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“We will continue to invest, invent, and hire hundreds of positions in areas that will help us achieve our goals and best serve our customers,” the CEO wrote. “We will be a stronger, faster, and more customer-focused company that consistently meets and exceeds our commitments. This year alone, we will land on the Moon, deliver a record number of incredible engines, and fly New Glenn and New Shepard on a regular cadence.”

Blue Origin launched its New Glenn rocket for the first time in January.

February 13, 2025
Trump budget bill could see ‘roughly’ $1 trillion in baseline spending cuts, top Republican says

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said Republicans were eyeing $1 trillion as a rough baseline for spending cuts as they prepare a massive conservative policy overhaul.

“I think when you look at where we are, we’re close to a trillion and still working,” Scalise said in response to a question by Fox News Digital late Tuesday night. When asked by another reporter later whether Republicans were looking at a $1 trillion baseline, Scalise said, “Roughly.” No final decisions have been made, however.

Republican majorities in the House and Senate are working to codify large swaths of President Donald Trump’s agenda via the budget reconciliation process.

By lowering the threshold for Senate passage from 60 votes to 51 out of 100, the maneuver allows the party in power to skirt its opposition to advance its agenda – provided the items included relate to budgetary and other fiscal matters. The House of Representatives already has a simple majority threshold.

BLACK CAUCUS CHAIR ACCUSES TRUMP OF ‘PURGE’ OF ‘MINORITY’ FEDERAL WORKERS

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise discussed the GOP’s goals of meeting their funding deadlines and enacting Trump policies. (Getty Images)

Disagreements over where to set the floor for spending cuts have put House Republicans behind on their ambitious schedule for reconciliation, which includes a final goal of getting a bill on Trump’s desk in May.

The House Budget Committee was expected to advance an initial resolution for reconciliation this week. That plan was derailed, however, when spending hawks on the panel balked at House GOP leaders’ initial offer of roughly $300 billion as a starting point for rollbacks to federal funding. They also rejected a higher offer nearing $900 billion in cuts, Fox News Digital was told earlier this week.

Scalise told reporters Tuesday night that leaders were now looking at next week to advance the bill out of the House Budget Committee.

Conservatives who spoke with Fox News Digital said they doubted the spending cuts would go much deeper than the agreed-upon floor, but Republican leaders have continued to insist there will be opportunities to find areas for cuts beyond whatever level they settle on.

Chairman Jodey Arrington leads the House Budget Committee. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Scalise also cautioned that negotiators were working against cost estimates by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), a nonpartisan group.

“There are a lot of numbers floating around. I mean, you know, CBO’s got their numbers, and we’ve had real issues with them, because CBO has been wrong so many times, but yet you still have to start with their numbers,” Scalise said. “And then, you know, what kind of economic growth are you gonna get if you have better energy policy and better regulatory policy? And those are real factors. And our members recognize that, but, you know, you’ve got to come to an agreement on what is that growth factor gonna be? What’s a fair number?”

GOP negotiators met on Tuesday evening to chart a path forward. A source familiar with the meeting said Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., did not commit to anything and discussions are still ongoing.

Republicans are hoping to use reconciliation to pass several Trump policy goals, from more funding at the border to removing taxes on tipped and overtime wages. Lawmakers are also eyeing new defense funding and pro-fossil fuel energy measures.

SCOOP: KEY CONSERVATIVE CAUCUS DRAWS RED LINE ON HOUSE BUDGET PLAN

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has not committed to any one path forward. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

House Republicans had planned to pass their reconciliation bill first, but it appears time could be running short. Senate Republicans have signaled they are ready to move ahead with their own plan if infighting delays the House GOP’s schedule.

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Asked about the prospect of the Senate moving first, Johnson told reporters on Tuesday, “Senate will not take the lead. We’re going to, and we’re right on schedule.”

Scalise similarly said that delaying the committee mark up to next week will not alter Republicans’ overall timeline.

Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to [email protected]

February 5, 2025