A United States judge has temporarily blocked a buyout package offered to federal workers as an incentive to resign from their jobs, part of a larger push under President Donald Trump to whittle down the scale of government.

On Thursday, US District Judge George O’Toole suspended the administration’s deadline to accept the buyout, which was set for 11:59pm Eastern Time (03:59 GMT, Friday).

O’Toole explained the additional time was needed for his court to consider arguments against the measure, brought by unions representing nearly 800,000 government employees.

The federal court in Massachusetts will hear full arguments in the case starting on Monday.

“It’s a glimmer of hope that the courts might help us and block the whole resignation programme,” one employee at the General Services Administration, which manages federal properties, told the Reuters news agency under condition of anonymity.

During his campaign, Trump and allies, such as Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, pledged to purge the federal government of workers and public employees that could pose an obstacle to their agenda.

On January 20, shortly after being sworn in for a second term, Trump told an arena of supporters he planned to rid the government of “Biden bureaucrats”, a reference to his predecessor, Joe Biden.

“Most of those bureaucrats are being fired. They’re gone. Should be all of them, but some sneak through,” he said.

But critics point out that career civil servants are nonpartisan employees – and they are essential to the smooth running of the government, even during transitions of power.

The buyout offer, which promises to pay workers their salaries through October if they agree to quit, has been challenged in court by labour unions, including the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE).

The Trump administration has warned that people who do not accept the offer could later lose their jobs anyway.

US news outlets have reported that the Department of Education, which Trump has indicated he wants to abolish, told staffers the government could terminate their paycheques at any time.

“We encourage federal workers in this city to accept the very generous offer,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Levitt said on Thursday.

She offered some pointed remarks to remote workers who were reticent about Trump’s mandate that they return to the office, too.

“They don’t want to come into the office,” Leavitt said. “If they want to rip the American people off, then they’re welcome to take this buyout, and we’ll find highly qualified people.”

Leavitt said about 40,000 federal workers had accepted the offer, accounting for about 2 percent of the government’s civilian workforce.

Not only has Trump questioned the political allegiance of federal workers, but he has also denounced the large workforce as evidence of government bloat.

The federal government is the largest employer in the US, with more than two million workers spanning the military, education and more.

Many federal workers say that the blitz campaign meant to thin out their ranks has left them feeling uncertain about the future.

“In the halls, most people are stopping to ask one another what their decision will be, with many people saying they are scared because we are caught between two bad choices and very little time to make the decision,” a Department of the Treasury executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters.