*

Judge to rule on Trump administration's buyout offer to

two

million federal workers

*

Legal challenges mount against Trump and Musk's efforts to

overhaul U.S. government

*

CFPB employees told not to report to DC office on Monday

*

Workers await ruling with trepidation

By Tim Reid and Nate Raymond

WASHINGTON, Feb 10 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge will

consider on Monday the fate of President Donald Trump's buyout

offer to two million federal workers as Trump presses ahead with

an unprecedented effort to dismantle government agencies and

downsize the federal workforce.

U.S. District Judge George O'Toole in Boston will hear

arguments in a lawsuit brought by federal workers' unions which

claim the Trump administration's "deferred resignation" offer to

government civilian employees is illegal because the U.S.

Congress has not approved funding for the scheme.

Trump has tasked Tesla CEO and SpaceX founder Elon

Musk, the world's richest person, with overseeing the purge of

employees through the newly created Department of Government

Efficiency (DOGE).

The actions of DOGE, which is not a government department,

have sown panic in Washington and triggered public protests and

a flood of calls from angry voters to Congress worried about the

access Musk's team has been given to sensitive information in

government computer systems that contain data on government

payments to Americans and personal details of federal workers.

Musk aides have taken senior positions at key government

agencies while the billionaire has pushed for the dismantling of

others, including USAID, America's humanitarian and development

aid agency, and the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, the

consumer watchdog set up in 2010 after the global financial

crisis.

EDUCATION DEPARTMENT, PENTAGON NEXT

Opposition Democrats and federal employee unions have

decried the power Trump has bestowed on South African-born Musk,

who appears largely unaccountable except to Trump himself. Trump

says Musk does not operate unilaterally but only with his

blessing.

Musk and his team of young staff appear to be far exceeding

the mandate given to them by an executive order Trump signed

when he took office on January 20, in which DOGE was asked to

provide recommendations on how to modernize technology used by

the federal government.

Last week Judge O'Toole temporarily paused the Thursday

deadline for workers to accept Trump's buyout plan, which offers

employees pay through September if they resign now.

While unions have urged members not to accept the offer,

saying the Trump administration cannot be trusted to honor it,

more than 65,000 government employees have so far opted to take

it as of Friday. Reuters has been unable to independently verify

that number, which does not include a breakdown of workers from

each agency.

O'Toole could decide on another temporary pause to the

program, bar it outright, or allow it to proceed.

A CFPB employee sounded downbeat on Sunday, saying even if

the judge blocks the buyout program, he and fellow staff believe

they will likely lose their jobs anyway.

Russell Vought, Trump's new acting director of the CFPB,

sent an email to workers on Saturday night ordering them to

cease virtually all work. On Sunday, workers received another

email telling them the agency would be closed for a week

starting on Monday.

A labor union that represents CFPB workers filed a lawsuit

late on Sunday to block Vought's actions, arguing that he was

violating Congress' authority to set and fund the agency's

mission.

The agency regulates consumer financial products and has

long incurred the ire of conservatives, who view its existence

as government overreach.

On Friday, the same day his staff were reported to have

entered the agency, Musk posted "CFPB RIP" on X, his social

media platform.

Trump said on Sunday he expected Musk to find billions of

dollars of waste in military spending once he instructs the

billionaire to turn his sights on the Pentagon.

The aggressive moves by Trump and Musk are bringing new

lawsuits on an almost daily basis.

An effort to hollow out USAID is partially on hold after a

judge's ruling, and Trump's effort to freeze trillions of

dollars in federal loans, grants and other financial assistance

has also been paused in a separate case.

On Saturday a judge temporarily blocked DOGE from accessing

government systems used to process trillions of dollars in

payments at the Treasury Department.