A judge temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s buyout offer to federal civilian employees from taking effect Thursday, hours before the deadline the administration set for more than 2 million employees to decide whether to take resignation packages with pay through September.

The administration set a deadline for Thursday at 11:59 p.m. Eastern for employees to decide on the offer. But a federal judge in Massachusetts paused the deadline until at least a hearing set for Monday at 2 p.

U.S. District Judge George O’Toole in Massachusetts scheduled a hearing for Monday on whether to grant a temporary restraining order.

By midnight today, federal workers must decide whether to accept or reject Trump’s buyout offer. What will happen to those who reject the offer and decide not to resign?

The Trump administration warned federal employees that they could be furloughed if they don't accept a buyout offer.

The CIA confirmed Wednesday that it offered buyouts to employees who volunteer to resign, the latest group of federal workers to receive such a proposal as President Trump pushes to transform the federal government. A CIA spokesperson declined to say how many people received the offers or whether they face any deadline to decide.

A judge temporarily halted the Trump administration's federal buyout program. MSNBC legal correspondent Lisa Rubin breaks it down. Author of "Why Presidents Fail and How They Can Succeed Again" Elaine Kamarck and the Atlantic staff writer Tom Nichols join Katy Tur to weigh in.

Wes Battle has been glued to the phone at his financial-planning office in Maryland for days, endlessly fielding calls from clients, most of whom work for the federal government. They all want to know the same thing in a hurry: Is the U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s “fork in the road” offer a good deal financially?