A federal judge will hear arguments today on whether to block the Trump administration’s controversial efforts to offer buyouts to federal employees, a policy that could result in tens of thousands of job losses nationwide, including in Hawaii.
State Attorney General Anne Lopez announced Sunday that she is leading a coalition of 21 state attorneys general in supporting the legal challenge against the directive. The lawsuit, filed by labor unions, argues that the buyout plan is illegal and has created widespread confusion among government employees.
The directive, issued Jan. 28 by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management and known as the “Fork in the Road” policy, offers federal workers up to eight months of pay and benefits in exchange for their immediate resignation. Employees who decline the offer face potential termination.
The deadline for accepting the offer was initially set for Thursday, but U.S. District Judge George A. O’Toole Jr. temporarily suspended the program until today.
The attorneys general argue the policy could severely affect government services, particularly in Hawaii, where thousands of federal employees support critical operations such as disaster response and veterans’ health care.
The amicus brief highlights the role of federal workers in Hawaii’s recovery from the August 2023 Maui wildfires and the strain the policy could place on the already understaffed Department of Veterans Affairs.
“The so-called ‘Fork in the Road’ directive disrespects federal workers, many of whom have decades of experience and tremendous expertise,” Lopez said Sunday in a statement. “The directive’s potential effects on the states and their residents are serious, and today the amici states emphasized why a temporary restraining order is necessary.”
At the same time, U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda, D-Hawaii, is demanding more transparency from the Trump administration regarding the full scope of the directive’s impact.
Tokuda and U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., are leading a letter to OPM to be sent this morning requesting a detailed breakdown of how many federal employees have accepted the buyout offer and how many of those have chosen to retire.
Additionally, the letter requests a copy of the final contract signed by all employees who accepted the “deferred resignation” offer to better understand their benefits and rights.
Recent reports indicate that over 65,000 federal employees have opted into the buyout, but the administration has yet to provide further details.
Tokuda and 48 of her Democratic colleagues in Congress are requesting a full breakdown by agency, state, territory and congressional district by Feb. 19.
Transparency lacking
In an interview Sunday with the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Tokuda expressed deep concerns about the lack of coordination and transparency surrounding the program, which she says could severely disrupt critical federal services in Hawaii.
“OPM really has an obligation and responsibility to answer these very basic questions to Congress, and I think that should they not answer them, they need to be held accountable for their lack of transparency,” she said. “At their core, what will their egregious legal actions do to impact our ability to serve our constituents throughout the country, state by state?”
The buyout plan has raised concerns over its vague and shifting details. Tokuda noted that eligibility criteria have changed daily, with no clear guarantees for employees who accept the offer.
She also said that some draft contracts from various departments indicate that funding depends on Congress making the necessary appropriations. With the federal government funded only until March 14, she pointed out that it’s challenging to determine the true reality behind the promises being made to federal workers and what guarantees they actually have.
With an estimated 43,000 federal employees throughout the state, Tokuda fears the state’s remote and rural nature makes it particularly vulnerable to service disruptions.
Trump’s plan has specifically raised concerns within Hawaii’s defense and intelligence community, with officials cautioning that the cuts could disrupt critical military operations in the state.
A supervisor at a Department of Defense agency in Hawaii, who requested anonymity due to fear of retaliation, emphasized that the state plays a vital role in national security, including missile defense, intelligence gathering and naval operations.
The person warned that sweeping reductions to the federal workforce could have significant consequences, potentially weakening essential defense systems and infrastructure.
The supervisor oversees a team of around 40 employees and said about 70% of them received letters offering voluntary buyouts. The person noticed the letters were sent randomly and that the supervisor didn’t receive a letter and thinks it’s because they didn’t respond to the original test email sent out by OPM, while others who received the letter had responded to the original email.
The supervisor explained that the letters sent out were “very vague. It’s written as: ‘Accept this offer and quit now, or we will most likely argue anyway.’ But no one knows where that focus will be, or if — and who — you’re talking to.”
“If you cut 100% of our intel community, we’re at huge risk. If you cut our missile interceptors, fly the Chinese flag, right? It’s dangerous. And everything we’ve seen so far has not been thoughtful or strategic; it just seems arbitrary and sloppy, engineered by folks who really don’t have the knowledge to understand the impact. And that’s very frightening.”
Hawaii is home to a significant defense and intelligence presence, including the Pacific Command, various military bases and a large civilian federal workforce. Any major cuts could have far-reaching impacts on the state’s economy and security.
Hawaii also relies heavily on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for critical services, including weather forecasting, climate monitoring and marine conservation. The agency plays a key role in tracking hurricanes, managing fisheries and conducting oceanic research essential to the state’s economy and environmental protection.
A NOAA spokesperson told the Star-Advertiser there are more than 30 NOAA offices and over 600 federal and contract employees in the region, with the majority of NOAA’s workforce based on Oahu and smaller numbers spread throughout the Hawaiian Islands and U.S. territories.
Regarding how many NOAA employees, if any, have accepted the federal buyout offer, the spokesperson said, “To my knowledge, these numbers are not available at this time, especially seeing as how the deadline to accept the offer has yet to pass.”
‘Carte blanche assault’
Tokuda said she has been receiving an overwhelming number of calls from employees and constituents, many of whom are too fearful to even provide their names due to concerns over retaliation. She said the policy has instilled fear and eroded trust in the government, leaving residents unsettled about its potential impact.
She also expressed frustration with the way information about Trump’s plan has been communicated. According to Tokuda, Congress learned about the policy at the same time as the media and the public through social media platforms like X. She believes this is a failure in the way the legislative process should function, as lawmakers are supposed to be integral to these discussions.
“This was not done in coordination with Congress. It’s a complete disregard for how the government should function. We’re talking about millions of employees who do everything from ensuring Social Security checks reach elderly citizens to caring for veterans and securing our communities in times of disaster. This was just a carte blanche assault on our federal employees.”
Tokuda also highlighted what she believes to be Trump’s long-standing agenda to slash the federal workforce.
“If you look at all of their plans and comments even before swimming into action, their goal was to cut the federal workforce by at least 5 (percent) to 10%,” Tokuda said. “Clearly, they were not thinking about what would be the best and most appropriate to take a look at first for potential cuts. They had no communication with those individuals who actually know what our employees do. This was a way to immediately look at culling through fear.”
She mentioned that U.S. Rep. Ed Case, D-Hawaii, and every member of Congress are working collectively and independently to hold the administration accountable and quickly figure out how to meet the American people’s needs.
