A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s buyout offer, giving federal employees, including some 6,000 in Lakewood, a momentary reprieve from deciding whether to accept or refuse .

The ruling came hours before the midnight deadline to apply for the deferred resignation program.

U.S. District Judge George O’Toole Jr. in Boston directed the administration to extend the deadline until after a court hearing he had scheduled for Monday afternoon. O’Toole did not express an opinion on the legality of the program, which is being challenged by several labor unions. He said he would weigh arguments next week.

The federal workers in metro Denver said they remain anxious. As of Thursday afternoon, the only word they had of the postponement came through news reports.

“Some people are now worried they’re going to be fired Friday, but we’re all going to work anyway,” said one federal employee who asked to remain anonymous. “People are freaking out.”

Some are resigning and will have to find a new job. Others are able to take an early retirement.

Others who are happy in their jobs have opted to stay and hope for the best.

One veteran employee who wished to remain anonymous said that some of her co-workers made the decision to take the offered retirement package and just stopped coming to work. Any decision she makes will be on her own terms, she said.

“I think I’m in a position to stand up for things from the inside, where some younger staff can’t risk it,” she said. 

The White House said 40,000 federal workers took its “deferred resignation” offer before the judge temporarily blocked its implementation.

Democrats and union leaders have said workers shouldn’t accept the deferred resignation program because it wasn’t authorized by Congress, raising the risk they won’t get paid.

“It’s a scam and not a buyout,” said Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees.

Supporters said the Trump Administration is delivering on a promise.

“President Trump campaigned on a platform of making the federal government more efficient, including his promise to create a Department of Government Efficiency,” Thomas Schatz, president of Citizens Against Government Waste, testified during a hearing a Congressional hearing on Feb. 5. “The establishment of DOGE, along with the DOGE subcommittee and House and Senate DOGE caucuses, should lead to the adoption of policies that will establish more effective use of taxpayer dollars and more efficient delivery of government services.”

Lakewood Mayor Wendi Strom said her city has received no written order or information about any potential closures at the Denver Federal Center, but that “if any order is issued regarding the Federal Center, we have asked for it to be delivered to us for our review.”

She said the federal center and its 6,000 employees are critical to the city’s economy. 

On Wednesday, the Trump administration ramped up its pressure on employees to take the offer, sending a reminder that layoffs or furloughs could come next.

“The majority of federal agencies are likely to be downsized through restructurings, realignments, and reductions in force,” said the message from the Office of Personnel Management.  

“Employees who engage in unlawful behavior or other misconduct will be prioritized for appropriate investigation and discipline, including termination,” the email said.

The federal government employed more than 3 million people as of November last year, which accounted for nearly 1.9% of the nation’s entire civilian workforce, according to the Pew Research Center. The average tenure for a federal employee is nearly 12 years, according to a Pew analysis of data from the OPM.

Government jobs have often been considered secure positions, but one federal employee who wished to remain unidentified for fear of losing her job said there’s uncertainty in the workforce.

“The email hit everyone like a ton of bricks,” she said. “At the first meeting within the office, their faces were sunk in. They were sad. No one was talking.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.