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(BOSTON) — As more than two million federal employees face a midnight Thursday deadline to accept the Trump administration’s buyout offer, a federal judge in Massachusetts will consider an eleventh-hour request to block the buyout from moving forward.

U.S. District Judge George O’Toole Jr. set Thursday afternoon hearing to consider a request by three federal unions to issue a temporary restraining order that would suspend Thursday’s deadline for the buyout and require the Office of Personnel Management to provide a legal basis for the unprecedented offer, which offers to continue to pay federal employees through Sept. 30, 2025, if they resign by Thursday at 11;59 p.m..

Three unions representing a combined 800,000 federal civil servants argue that the “deferred resignation” offer is unlawful, arbitrary, and would result in a “dangerous one-two punch” to the federal government.

“First, the government will lose expertise in the complex fields and programs that Congress has, by statute, directed the Executive to faithfully implement,” the lawsuit said. “And second, when vacant positions become politicized, as this Administration seeks to do, partisanship is elevated over ability and truth, to the detriment of agency missions and the American people.”

The lawsuit comes as at least 40,000 federal workers — roughly 2% of the civilian federal workforce — have accepted the deferred resignation offer to leave the federal government since last week, ABC News has reported.

The three unions — the American Federation of Government Employees, the National Association of Government Employees, and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees — argue that the OPM violated the Administrative Procedure Act by failing to provide a legal basis for the buyout offer and leaving open the possibility that the government might not follow through with the buyout once federal employees agree to resign.

The lawsuit added that the buyout’s promise of payments through September violates the law because the current appropriation for federal agencies expires in March. Moreover, the buyout is unfair because it was made alongside a threat of future layoffs, the lawsuit said.

The buyout offer, part of DOGE head Elon Musk’s effort to trim the size of government under President Donald Trump, was sent out under the subject line “Fork in the Road” — the same language Musk used when he slashed jobs at Twitter after taking over that company in 2022.

“To leverage employees into accepting the offer and resigning, the Fork Directive threatens employees with eventual job loss in the event that they refuse to resign,” the unions’ lawsuit says.

Overall, the lawsuit alleges that the OPM rushed the offer with a questionable legal basis, largely mimicking Elon Musk’s management style following his takeover of Twitter.

“OPM’s rapid adoption of Musk’s private-sector program confirms that the agency took very little time to consider the suitability of applying an approach used with questionable success in a single for-profit entity to the entirety of the federal workforce,” says the lawsuit.

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(WASHINGTON) — Internet-connected cameras made in China are giving the Chinese government the ability to “conduct espionage or disrupt US critical infrastructure,” according to a Department of Homeland Security bulletin obtained by ABC News.

The cameras typically lack data encryption and security settings and, by default, communicate with their manufacturer. It’s believed there are tens of thousands of Chinese-made cameras on the networks of critical U.S. infrastructure entities, including within the chemical and energy sectors, the bulletin said.

Chinese cyber-operatives have previously exploited internet-connected cameras and the fear is China could gain access and manipulate systems without tighter restrictions on these cameras, the DHS warns.

“A cyber actor could leverage cameras placed on IT networks for initial access and pivot to other devices to exfiltrate sensitive process data that an actor could use for attack planning or disrupting business systems,” the bulletin said. “A cyber actor could use cameras placed on safety systems to suppress alarms, trigger false alarms, or pivot to disable fail-safe mechanisms.”

So far, China has successfully kept U.S. regulators from blocking the use of internet-connected cameras made in China through the use of a practice known as “white labeling,” where the cameras are imported after they’re packaged and sold by another company, according to the bulletin.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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(NEW YORK) — A federal judge on Thursday will consider whether to block the Federal Bureau of Investigation from assembling a list of agents involved in cases related to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack for potential disciplinary action or firings.

A class action lawsuit filed anonymously by a group of FBI agents alleges that the country’s leading law enforcement agency is planning to engage in “potential vigilante action” to retaliate against government employees who worked on Jan. 6 cases or Donald Trump’s classified documents case.

The lawsuit warned that the effort to survey thousands of FBI agents about their past work could be “catastrophic to national security” and result in the termination of as many as 6,000 FBI agents.

The plaintiffs warned that the Department of Justice may seek to publicly disseminate the names of agents that investigated the conduct that allegedly stemmed from the sitting president.

“Such public disclosures would directly put the safety of all impacted individuals at risk as well as their family members,” the lawsuit said.
In a court filing submitted Thursday morning, the Justice Department urged the judge hearing the case to reject the plaintiffs’ request to impose a restraining order blocking the collection the list.

DOJ attorneys argued in the filing that the motion for the restraining order is based largely on speculation and that the FBI agents have failed to show they face any imminent threats in connection with the list.

Trump’s federal classified documents case and his Jan. 6 case were both dropped following Trump’s reelection in November due to a longstanding Justice Department policy prohibiting the prosecution of a sitting president.

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(NEW YORK) — A winter storm has pummeled the Midwest and the Northeast with sleet, freezing rain and snow, leaving dangerous travel conditions for millions.

In Cleveland, cars, trees and power lines have been coated in sheets of ice, and in Kansas, the icy roads were blamed for car accidents.

The ice targeted Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Philadelphia overnight as the storm moved east.

Snow and sleet reached New York City early Thursday morning, causing a treacherous commute during rush hour.

“Avoid unnecessary travel, and if you must drive, slow down, use caution and give plows and spreaders room to work,” the New Jersey Department of Transportation said.

The icy mix is expected to change to rain later in the morning from New York City to Philadelphia to D.C.

New England, including Boston, will see snow and an icy mix into the afternoon.

Another storm with snow, sleet and freezing rain is forecast for the Midwest and the Northeast this weekend.

A winter storm watch already has been issued for parts of Upper Midwest, including Minneapolis, where up to 8 inches of snow is possible.

This new storm will then track east, reaching the Interstate 95 corridor Saturday evening into Sunday morning with snow, ice and rain.
 

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(NEW ALBANY, Ohio) — Police are looking for a motive after a man allegedly killed two people and injured four others in a workplace shooting at an Ohio manufacturing facility, officials said.

Officers responded to an active shooter report at a New Albany facility run by KDC/One, a beauty products manufacturer, around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, New Albany police said.

One victim was found shot dead inside the building and five others were hospitalized, police said. Police announced early Thursday that one of the five people in the hospital died from their injuries. The four surviving victims remain hospitalized in unknown conditions, police said.

About 150 employees were safely evacuated, police said.

The suspect, identified as employee Bruce Reginald Foster III, fled the scene just before police arrived, New Albany Police Chief Greg Jones said.

Foster, 28, was taken into custody Wednesday morning at a home in Columbus, Jones said.

A motive remains under investigation, Jones said at a news conference Wednesday.

Authorities interviewed the evacuated employees and “nobody had reported that there was any conflict or that [Foster] was in trouble at work,” Jones said.

The chief described the victims as Foster’s co-workers and said they likely knew each other.

New Albany is a safe community, but “any community in America can fall victim to random workplace violence,” New Albany Mayor Sloan Spalding said at the news conference.

Foster legally bought the gun used in the shooting in September 2024, authorities noted.
 

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(WASHINGTON) — After two deadly plane crashes in the past week — one in Washington, D.C., killing 67, and another in Philadelphia, killing 7 and injuring 19 — it wouldn’t be unusual if travelers reported heightened apprehension toward air travel, according to experts.

“Given the fact that there were two incidents that were pretty large in the past seven days, I would say people that are on the fence about whether or not to book that vacation are probably hesitant to do that,” said psychotherapist and licensed aviator Michaela Renee Johnson.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, around 25 million adults in the U.S. have a fear of flying, also known as aerophobia. It’s not abnormal to be hesitant about airline travel after a traumatic aviation incident, especially when there are casualties involved, said aviation law expert Robert Clifford.

“People tend to immediately think, ‘Uh-oh, they all must be unsafe, and it must be a huge risk for me to fly’ — and they question whether or not they should get on the next flight they have scheduled,” Johnson told ABC News.

Media psychologist Don Grant told ABC News that the way these tragedies are portrayed in the media can trigger new cases of air travel anxiety, or even elevate existing worries.

“If you already have a fear of flying, then you see something like this, it’s like the monsters under the bed are actually real,” Grant said.

When there are life-threatening events, Johnson said the brain uses survival techniques, like the “fight or flight” response, to protect from impending danger. Even though the body might be responding correctly to the recent tragedies, Johnson said it isn’t taking into account the facts surrounding airline travel safety.

“Yes, our brain is doing what it’s supposed to be doing by assessing the risk, but it’s not really considering the fact that in perspective, it’s actually an incredibly safe way to travel,” Johnson told ABC News.

Despite the recent incidents, experts still argue that flying is the safest form of transportation.

In a 2024 study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, researchers found that the “death risk per boarding for worldwide air travelers was 1 in 13.7 million” in the 2018-2022 period. This reflects a steep increase in safety as compared to the previous half-century, following a pattern of the risk of fatalities dropping 50% per decade, according to the study.

The Department of Transportation estimated that 86.8 million passengers were moved by aircraft in August 2024.

But will those numbers persist after the recent crashes?

Johnson told ABC News that it depends: Those who travel frequently for business will still need access to commercial airlines, whereas those who only go on vacation every few years might consider other forms of transport.

Regardless of the statistics, Johnson said many feel a lack of control when stepping into an airplane, causing anxiety to heighten.

“We’re sitting in the back, we don’t know how to fly an airplane, we don’t know what’s happening up front, we don’t know what’s happening in the air around us,” Johnson said. “That can create a lot of discomfort for people. You have to talk yourself through the idea that the pilots also want to get home that night.”

For those struggling to book their next plane ticket, Johnson suggested the following tactics for combatting anxiety: journaling, avoiding flights in the winter or during hurricane seasons, and writing preemptive letters to loved ones (just in case).

But at the same time, Johnson urges others to remember this: “How much of your life are you willing to sacrifice for the fear that you may die?”

“When we think about fear as a motivating factor for a lot of things that we do in our lives, we have to really question how much of it is rational and how much of it is irrational,” Johnson said. “None of us is getting off the planet alive.”

Grant also provided a simple solution to alleviate aviation anxieties: “Put the phone down.”

He recommends reading the news from reliable sources — but not scrolling endlessly online, looking at countless stories on the topic. He also suggested looking into how planes work, reading about the training pilots are required to have or joining am aerophobia support group.

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(NEW YORK) — Donations to Luigi Mangione’s legal defense fund have picked up after a news report that they had slowed down.

Mangione’s online fund has received over $248,000 in donations to help defend him against state and federal charges in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

Newsweek reported Tuesday that contributions had slowed to a trickle.

In response, Mangione’s lead defense attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, said, “Luigi is aware of the fund and very much appreciates the outpouring of support. My client plans on utilizing it to fight all three of the unprecedented cases against him.”

The item and the lawyer’s comment prompted a series of Reddit posts that appeared to spark renewed interest in Mangione’s case and donations to his fund.

His legal team just added a court-appointed death penalty expert, Avi Markowitz.

Mangione has pleaded not guilty to state charges.

He has not yet entered a plea to federal charges, one of which could result in the death penalty if there’s a conviction.

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