CBS News: “More than 2 million federal employees face a looming deadline: By midnight Eastern time on Thursday, they must decide whether to accept a “deferred resignation” offer from the Trump administration. If workers accept, according to a White House plan, they would continue getting paid through September but would be excused from reporting for duty. But if they opt to keep their jobs, they could get fired. That decision, one affecting the careers and livelihoods of Americans around the U.S., is fraught, employment attorneys and government watchdogs said. The offer, from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), includes a number of provisions that are unclear and not guaranteed, posing financial and professional risks while leaving workers in danger of not getting what they signed up for, experts told CBS MoneyWatch The Trump administration also may lack authority to extend such a deal, and as such the deferred resignation allegedly breaks numerous laws, a Feb. 4 lawsuit filed by several federal employee unions alleges. The plaintiffs in that suit are asking a court to block the government’s offer, which they describe as “arbitrary, capricious” and in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act, a 1946 law governing how federal agencies implement regulations.  The deferred resignation offer is the brainchild of the second Trump administration, which has ordered federal workers to return to the office five days a week while directing government agencies to end remote work arrangements. The White House expects to persuade up to roughly 10% of the federal civilian workforce to resign, saving $100 billion a year in costs…”