A federal judge has pushed back to Monday a deadline for U.S. government employees to opt in to Donald Trump's 'buyout' offer.

Two million federal workers originally had until midnight tonight to sign up for the deal.

So far, 40,000 have done so as Trump and Elon Musk seek to shrink the government bureaucracy. 

Meanwhile, FBI Director pick Kash Patel's nomination was stalled by Democrats.

Federal judge pauses deadline for Trump 'buyout' offer to federal workers

Sarah Ewall-Wice, Senior U.S. Political Reporter:

A federal judge in Massachusetts paused the deadline for President Trump's 'buyout' offer for federal workers.

The temporary hold came as federal workers were facing a midnight deadline tonight to make a decision on whether to accept the deferred resignation offer sent to millions of workers from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

The Trump administration made the offer as it looks to cut down the federal workforce in an effort led by billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team.

But the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) union that represents 800,000 federal workers and other groups sued.

As of Wednesday, more than 40,000 workers had accepted the offer, or about 2 percent.

'We are pleased the court temporarily paused this deadline while arguments are heard about the legality of the deferred resignation program,' said AFGE National President Everett Kelley in a statement Thursday afternoon.

'We continue to believe this program violates the law, and we will continue to aggressively defend our members' rights,' he added.

The judge set a Monday hearing for further arguments.