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Home Front: Politix

Supreme Court green-lights Trump's order for mass firings across federal government - POLITICO

2025-07-09

[POLITICO] The Trump administration can move forward with plans to fire tens of thousands of workers across the federal government, the Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.

A judge in Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party, had blocked the layoffs, finding that they would likely violate federal law. But the justices granted an emergency appeal from the administration seeking permission to enforce a Feb. 11 executive order that instructed agencies to carry out dramatic ''reductions in force.''

In an apparent 8-1 ruling, the high court said it was not assessing the legality of any particular agency's layoff plans, nor any moves taken so far to implement those plans. Litigation over the downsizing efforts is sure to continue. But for now, the justices said, the administration can enforce the executive order and a memo from the Office of Management and Budget implementing that EO.

The high court's unsigned decision — which the majority explained in two terse paragraphs — lifts an injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Susan Illston, who had blocked 21 agencies from complying with the mass layoff orders.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the sole member of the court to record a dissent. She said President Donald Trump

...The tack in the backside of the Democratic Party...
is unleashing a ''wrecking ball'' on the federal government, and she slammed the court's majority for its ''demonstrated enthusiasm for greenlighting this President's legally dubious actions in an emergency posture.''

Jackson, a Biden appointee, said her colleagues were inappropriately reinterpreting Illston's findings, noting that appeals courts are supposed to adhere to a lower court's conclusions about disputed facts. Lower courts have better command of the facts at this early stage in the litigation, she wrote in a 15-page dissent.

The groups that sued over the layoff plans — including several cities and counties, the American Federation of Government Employees and other federal worker unions — said in a statement that the ruling jeopardizes services that Americans rely on. ''This decision does not change the simple and clear fact that reorganizing government functions and laying off federal workers en masse haphazardly without any congressional approval is not allowed by our Constitution,'' the unions said.

Illston's injunction, which she issued in May, had blocked most major federal agencies from moving forward with any of the complicated steps the government must take when carrying out mass layoffs. She prohibited the administration from developing reorganization plans, issuing any new RIF notifications, and executing any RIFs that were further along in the process.

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Home Front: Politix

HUD Moving to NSF Building in Virginia Due to ‘Unsafe Conditions' at D.C. HQ

2025-06-27

Make a list of the protesters — a shortcut for a To Be Fired Immediately list.

[Breitbart] Federal workers protested the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) move to the current National Science Foundation (NSF) headquarters in Virginia on Tuesday, forcing the planned press conference by Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) and HUD Sec. Scott Turner to be moved into a secure room.

NSF employees, represented by the American Federation of Government Employees Local 3403, claimed that plans for HUD’s relocation to their Alexandria building involved “construction of an executive dining room” for Turner and “reserved parking spaces for the Secretary’s 5 cars.”

The union also claimed that a potential new gym is in the works for Turner “and his family” to use, and HUD’s imminent takeover of the building was concealed from them until earlier this week.

They fail to comprehend the different roles of senior management and, well, them.

Turner, who has repeatedly criticized his agency’s current headquarters inside the Robert C. Weaver Federal Building in Washington, DC, denied the claims that he advocated for the move to satisfy any personal desire for a more luxurious office.

However, before he, Youngkin, or the General Services Administration (GSA) could explain the decision or answer any questions, their press conference was crashed by angry NSF workers:

Dozens of employees poured into the east wing of the second floor to boo and chant, “NSF! NSF!” — prompting security personnel to usher the governor, secretary, GSA Public Buildings Service Commissioner Michael Peters, their respective staffers, and journalists into another room.

Once the press briefing could begin without interruption, Turner emphasized that HUD’s move is to prioritize the “health, safety and well being for [the] HUD workforce,” who he said are “working in unsafe conditions to this day.”

“I would hope that no leader in government or otherwise would expect staff to work every day in an atmosphere where the air quality is questionable, leaks are nearly unstoppable, and the HVAC is almost unworkable, just to name a few examples,” the secretary said, “in addition to the broken elevator banks that have been broken for years.”

The Weaver Building has had major repair issues for years, with a March Fox News report by Bret Baier showing the unfinished state of HUD’s longtime headquarters:

The building, which opened in 1968, currently faces over $500 million in deferred maintenance and modernization needs, and it costs taxpayers more than $56 million every year in rent and operations expenditures.

In addition, with every member of HUD staff at its headquarters, the Weaver Building only sits at half of its total occupancy.

In April, the GSA and HUD announced that the building had been moved to the accelerated disposition list.

Link

Home Front: WoT

Pam Bondi charges 3 in ''domestic terrorism'' attacks on Teslas as Indivisible plans additional excitements

2025-03-21

Betcha they all turn out to be either Antifa/Black Bloc or mentally ill.

[NYPOST] Three people accused of destroying Tesla cars and charging stations are facing up to 20 years in prison for ''domestic terrorism,'' US Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Thursday.

''The days of committing crimes without consequence have ended,'' Bondi said in a statement.

''Let this be a warning: If you join this wave of domestic terrorism against Tesla properties, the Department of Justice will put you behind bars,'' she added.

The defendants — whose cases are being brought in Colorado, Oregon and South Carolina — are accused of using high-powered weapons and explosives to destroy property belonging to the Elon Musk-owned car company, which has been targeted in recent weeks over his role in the Trump administration.

In Oregon, Adam Matthew Lansky, 41, allegedly carried a suppressed AR-15 rifle while lobbing eight Molotov cocktails at a Salem Tesla dealership Jan. 20. Almost exatly one month later, on Feb. 19, Sherlocks say Lansky returned to the dealership and shot out one of the windows and fired bullets into a car, according to Fox12. Lansky is charged with unlawful possession of an unregistered firearm.

In Colorado, Lucy Grace Nelson, 40, is charged with malicious destruction of property after allegedly trying to light Tesla cars on fire at a dealership in Loveland, 45 miles north of Denver. Investigators say Nelson spray-painted ''Nazi cars'' across the vehicles before tossing Molotov cocktails at them. She was released on $100,000 bond a day after her arrest in February.

Finally, Daniel Clarke-Pounder, 24, is accused of arson of property in interstate commerce after he allegedly vandalized Tesla charging stations in Charleston, SC earlier this month with profane anti-Trump rhetoric, then torched them.

According to authorities, Clarke-Pounder scrawled ''F— Trump'' and ''Long live the Ukraine'' across the charging stations before throwing five Molotov cocktails at them, with one of the homemade bombs lighting the suspect on fire before he put himself out.

Each faces a minimum of five years in prison if convicted, but the charges carry a maximum penalty of 20 years.

Despite Bondi's rhetoric, none of the standing charges qualify as ''domestic terrorism,'' and it is unclear whether the AG will elevate them.

President Trump has been outspoken about hunting down the people targeting Teslas across the country — and has called them domestic Lions of Islam when speaking about them.

''I'm going to stop them,'' the president said March 11 after buying a Tesla himself to show support for Musk and the company. ''We're going to catch them, they're bad guys.''

''We're going to catch you, and you're going to go through hell,'' he added.

And today Indivisible hosted a conference call to plan their next attacks on Tesla — which an anonymous someone sat in on for the rest of us:

[X]

1. One of the speakers is a federal employee who belongs to the American Federation of Government Employees Union.

For that that don’t remember, they are one of the six groups that teamed up on December 19, 2024, to take down Trump. Marc Elias launched Civil Service Strong. The…
— Insurrection Barbie (@DefiyantlyFree) March 20, 2025

… very interesting moments.

I see that today all over their messaging it says nonviolent because of the charges that were brought by Pam Bondi so they seem a little spooked.

Anyway, I listened to their entire organizing call for the 500 protests they are trying to organize for 3/29.

Truly dystopian stuff.

Continuing the second tweet:

…Marc Elias launched Civil Service Strong. The press release calls the firm a coalition of civil society institutions and organizations, including 2.2 million federal government civil servants.

She spoke on the call to rally protesters all across the country to make their voices heard.

So I just connected Indivisible with Civil Service Strong because it’s all tied together.

This was my favorite speaker, the independent journalist and hacker who tells us the entire point of these organized protests are to tank Tesla stock.

Not a lawyer but this seems illegal to me. pic.twitter.com/9V2aNrdDR2
— Insurrection Barbie (@DefiyantlyFree) March 20, 2025

Definitely linked to Black Bloc cadres…

Link

Government Corruption

Appeals Court Rejects Trump''s Effort to Reverse Reinstatement of Federal Workers

2025-03-18

[TOWNHALL] The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday ruled against a Trump administration request to halt a court order forcing the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to reinstate federal workers who had been fired.

This development comes amid efforts to shrink the size and scope of the government — especially in the executive branch.

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) filed a lawsuit against the administration after six federal agencies terminated probationary employees in February. The district court ruled against the administration, claiming the firings were wrongful. It issued a preliminary injunction and ordered the agencies to ''immediately offer reinstatement to any and all probationary employees'' who lost their jobs.

The White House sought an emergency stay, arguing that reinstating the employees would create a significant administrative burden. However,
the hip bone's connected to the leg bone...
the appeals court denied the request, saying that issuing a stay on the order would ''disrupt the status quo and turn it on its head.''

The government sought an emergency stay, arguing that reinstating employees would impose a significant administrative burden, but the court rejected this, emphasizing that a stay would ''disrupt the status quo and turn it on its head.''

The majority decision, authored by Judges Barry Silverman and Ana de Alba, argued that keeping the district court's order in place was necessary to maintain stability in the proceedings. They cited National Urban League v. Ross and asserted that district court's decision was correct.

Link

Home Front: Politix

OPM walks back memo on firing probationary employees, leaving decision to agencies

2025-03-05

[THEHILL] The Office of Personnel Management on Tuesday updated its guidance to department heads that demanded the firing of federal workers, adding that it's up to the agency on whether to boot their hires.

The slight shift in the memo updates a Day 1 order from the OPM directing all government agencies to pull together a list of all employees still in their probationary period, those who were either hired or promoted within the last year or two — a period that varies by agency.

''Please note that, by this memorandum, OPM is not directing agencies to take any specific performance-based actions regarding probationary employees. Agencies have ultimate decision-making authority over, and responsibility for, such personnel actions,'' the OPM wrote in the Tuesday update.

The tweak comes after unions scored a court victory Thursday after suing over the Trump administration plans to fire probationary workers

''OPM's revision of its Jan. 20 memo is a clear admission that it unlawfully directed federal agencies to carry out mass terminations of probationary employees — which aligns with Judge Alsup's recent decision in our lawsuit challenging these illegal firings,'' the American Federation of Government Employees said in a statement Tuesday.

Link

Home Front: Politix

DOD tells civilian workforce to ignore Elon Musk's request to report productivity

2025-02-24

[FoxNews] DOD is the latest federal agency to tell employees to ignore Musk's request to report productivity

The Department of Defense (DOD) told its civilian workforce to ignore billionaire and head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Elon Musk’s request to report their productivity.

In a letter to DOD personnel, Darin S. Selnick, who is performing the duties of the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, provided guidance on how to handle Musk’s demand through the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

"DoD personnel may have received an email from OPM requesting information. The Department of Defense is responsible for reviewing the performance of its personnel and it will conduct any review in accordance with its own procedures," Selnick wrote. "When and if required, the Department will coordinate responses to the email you have received from OPM. For now, please pause any response to the OPM email titled, ‘What did you do last week.’"

Musk, a senior advisor to President Donald Trump, said earlier on Saturday that employees would receive an email giving them a chance to explain how productive they were the previous week. If an employee fails to respond to the email, Musk said the government will interpret that as a resignation.

"Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week," Musk wrote on X. "Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation."

Later that day, Musk said the report should take under five minutes for employees to write. The deadline for responding to the email is 11:59 p.m. on Monday.

"To be clear, the bar is very low here. An email with some bullet points that make any sense at all is acceptable! Should take less than 5 mins to write," Musk wrote on X.

A spokesperson from OPM confirmed Musk's plans.

"As part of the Trump Administration's commitment to an efficient and accountable federal workforce, OPM is asking employees to provide a brief summary of what they did last week by the end of Monday, CC'ing their manager," the spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "Agencies will determine any next steps."

Also telling employees to stand down was Kash Patel, who was confirmed by the Senate last week as the new director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

"FBI personnel may have received an email from OPM requesting information," Patel told employees, according to The Associated Press. "The FBI, through the Office of the Director, is in charge of all of our review processes, and will conduct reviews in accordance with FBI procedures. When and if further information is required, we will coordinate the responses. For now, please pause any responses."

The State Department also reportedly issued a similar message to employees on Saturday, informing them that department officials "will respond on behalf of the Department," according to a message sent by Ambassador Tibor P. Nagy, who serves as acting under secretary of state for management.

Trump uses hilarious meme to mock federal workers after outcry over DOGE email asking what they 'accomplished' last week

[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] President Donald Trump invoked Spongebob Squarepants to mock federal employees who are outraged by a Department of Government Efficiency email asking what they 'accomplished' over the course of the week.

The commander-in-chief took to his Truth Social platform on Sunday to share an edited screenshot from the Nickelodeon cartoon, showing the titular yellow sponge pondering over a notepad with a pencil in his hand.

The second image showed a list entitled 'Got done last week' and included items like 'cried about Trump,' 'cried about Elon' and 'made it to the office for once.'

Trump's post came as DOGE chief Elon Musk defended his late Saturday night email to all federal employees, asking them to list five things they did this week.

It was sent by the Office of Personnel Management's human resources department, and gave federal workers a deadline of Monday at 11:59 p.m. EST to send back their explanation of work.

Musk said in a post to X that if workers fail or refuse to respond it would be 'taken as a resignation.'

Some federal employees have since claimed the emails are 'harassment' and say the requirement to justify their weekly tasks amounts to a 'hostile work environment.'

'This is the ultimate d**k boss move from Musk - except he isn't even the boss, he's just a d**k,' Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) posted in response to the directive from Trump's 'first buddy.'

'It feels like harassment, especially sending it out on a Saturday and boasting about it in advance on X so that everyone could be checking their email [that] afternoon in anticipation of its arrival,' another federal employee told Business Insider.

A third, who works for the Centers for Disease Control, said they 'can only imagine how many people they'll fire based on the responses/non-responses to this.'

Several unions representing federal workers have even objected to the email, with the National Treasury Employees Union calling it 'yet another attempt by the administration to scare hardworking civil servants who deliver for the American people every day.'

In a letter on Sunday, the American Federation of Government Employees also argued that the email 'fails to identify any legal authority permitting OPM to demand the requested information.

'Federal employees report to their respective agencies through their established chains of command; they do not report to OPM,' the letter says.

'The email was nothing more than an irresponsible and sophomoric attempt to create confusion and bully the hard-working federal employees that serve our country.

'By issuing this directive, OPM is actively pulling federal employees away from their critical duties without regard for the consequences,' it added.

'As just two examples: a VA surgeon's attention belongs in the operating room and an air traffic controller's attention on keeping the skies safe, not on dealing with this unclear and unlawful distraction.

'The request and the resulting confusion is not just inappropriate - it is disruptive to essential government functions,' the union argued.

Newly-appointed FBI Director Kash Patel has even urged agents to 'pause any responses' until the bureau can come up with a coordinated response.

'All FBI personnel may have received an email from OPM requesting information,' he wrote in an email obtained by NBC News.

'The FBI, through the Office of the Director, is in charge of all of our review processes and will conduct reviews in accordance with FBI procedures,' he said.

'When and if information is required, we will coordinate the responses. For now, please pause any responses.'

Supervisors at the Department of Justice similarly told employees to leave Musk's email unanswered while they await further clarity on the situation, Newsweek reports.

At the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - which houses the National Weather Service, some managers initially cautioned against replying to the email, apparently thinking it was a phishing attempt.

One NOAA employee even told WIRED they were cautioned not to log onto their work email after receiving it.

But Musk has called his request 'a trivial task,' and noted that his DOGE workers have already received a 'large number of good responses.'

'These are the people who should be considered for promotion,' he insisted.

Nonprofit President of Brownstone Institute Jeffrey Tucker also said the email from DOGE 'is completely conventional in the service industry when there's new management.'

'It is only causing screams and panics because it is government,' he added.

Another post Musk highlighted on his X account detailed how the task to detail their accomplishments from the week is common in the 'private sector.'

'It's standard practice to report what you've accomplished to your manager,' Ana Mostarac posted. 'And if you've been a manager, you know how crucial it is to clarify expectations and priorities on a regular cadence.'

'Now, government sector employees are being asked to do the same,' she continued. 'The request is being labeled 'harassment' and described as creating a 'hostile work environment,' with some even suggesting a class action lawsuit for 'undue stress and financial harm.'

'Why should government sector employees be held to a different standard? If anything, shouldn't they be held to a higher standard, given the importance of their work?' she questioned.

Link

Government Corruption

DOGE slashes nearly $1 billion at Education Department: 'Win for every student'

2025-02-12

[FoxNews] …including over $100 million for DEI funding.

The Department of Education (DOE) is canceling more than $100 million in grants to fund diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training as part of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) sweep of "wasteful" spending.

DOGE, the department led by Elon Musk to cut costs within the federal government, announced the termination of 89 DOE contracts totaling $881 million in a post on X Monday night.

Of the nearly $1 billion, DOGE identified $101 million that was being used for DEI training, including teaching educators to "help students understand/interrogate the complex histories involved in oppression, and help students recognize areas of privilege and power on an individual and collective basis."

"Your tax dollars were spent on this," Musk wrote of the DOE spending.

According to DOGE, the education department spent another $1.5 million on a contractor to "observe mailing and clerical operations" at a mail center, which was also terminated in the recent spending sweep.

"DEI was never about ‘equity’—it was about enforcing ideological conformity and institutionalizing discrimination. Shutting down these wasteful, divisive programs is a win for every student," Nicki Neily, founder and president of Parents Defending Education, said in response to the spending cut.

"More states need to follow suit," Neily said.

DOGE has been leading efforts to vacuum spending within the DOE, announcing in early February the termination of three grants including one funding an institution that had reportedly "previously hosted faculty workshops entitled 'Decolonizing the Curriculum.'"

In his first slew of executive orders, President Donald Trump launched a federal review of DEI teachings and practices in educational institutions receiving federal funding.

Amid the Trump-Vance crackdown on certain teachings, several colleges, such as Missouri State University and West Virginia University, have begun closing their DEI offices.

Terrified staff left hysterical as 'well drilled' DOGE nerds storm hyper 'woke' Department of Education

[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Elon Musk's nerd army stormed into the Department of Education on Tuesday and saved over $900 million.

Musk's DOGE lieutenants Akash Bobba and Ethan Shaotran, both 22, already have access to the department, NBC News reported.

And as many as 16 DOGE team members have entered the premises as the agency begins to be ripped apart.

Rep. Melanie Stansbury, (D-MD) described the terror agency staff are feeling after Musk's team entered to 'actively dismantle' the institution.

'They are in the building, on the 6th floor, canceling grants and contracts,' she said in an interview with HuffPost.

'It's not legal. They know it's not legal. But they're doing it anyway,' Stansbury went on. 'The only recourse we have right now is to to go the courts.'

She added that she expects the agency to be 'dissolved in the coming days.'

The Department of Education was targeted by Donald Trump
...They hit him with slander, they impeached him twice. Nancy Pelosi tore up his State of the Union address on national TV. They stole an election and put his adherents in jail. They vilified him. They couldn't crucify him, so they shot him. Still, they can't keep him down...
during his campaign, He is keen to dismantle the so-called 'Deep State' constantly working against conservatives.

Most Republicans believe the department employs some of the most activist liberal ~~babus~~ bureaucrats in the federal government.

Trump plans to sign another executive order on Tuesday to order all agencies to work with DOGE, according to Semafor, including with the 'workplace optimization initiative.'

The order is the latest sign that Trump is fully on board with Musk's efforts amidst protests from Democrats
...every time you hear the phrase white people, white supremacy, white anything but paint, you're listening to a Democrat. Ask him/her/it to reimagine something for you; they do that a lot, though not well. They can hear a dog whistle a mile or two away. They invented the spoils system and Tammany Hall, and inspired the addition of the word (Thomas) Nasty to the English language. They want to stop continental drift and repeal the law of unintended side effects...
that he is an unelected billionaire.

The department has already terminated 89 Education Department contracts worth $881 million.

And over 29 training grants for DEI have been eliminated saving $101 million, according to the DOGE X account.

President Donald Trump campaigned on shutting down the Department of Education and sending the funding back to the states to fund their schools as they see fit.

He also said last week that it's a goal to put his Education Secretary Linda McMahon

...business executive, and former professional wrestling performer. She was the 25th administrator of the Small Business Administration from 2017 to 2019. McMahon has been nominated to lead the Department of Education under the second Trump administration. McMahon, along with her husband, Vince McMahon, founded sports entertainment company Titan Sports, Inc. (later World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.) where she worked as the president and later CEO from 1980 to 2009. During this time, the company grew from a regional business in the northeast to a large multinational corporation. She made occasional on-screen performances, most notably in a feud with her husband that culminated at WrestleMania X-Seven. In 2009, she left World Wrestling Entertainment to run for a seat in the United States Senate from Connecticut as a Republican, but lost to Richard Blumenthal in the 2010 general election. She was the Republican nominee for Connecticut's other Senate seat in the 2012 race, but lost to Chris Murphy because that's the kind of guy people in Connecticutt like best. ...
'out of a job.'

Government workers and sympathetic activists rallied on Tuesday at a 'Save the Civil Service' rally hosted by the American Federation of Government Employees in Washington, DC.

Democratic politicians were denied entry to the Department building in Washington, DC on Friday.

Democratic members of congress raged at an unnamed individual blocking their way, demanding to see his identification and answer their questions.

Rep. The Ageless and Downright Brilliant Comrade Maxine Impeach 45! Waters
...U.S. Representative for life from California's 43rd congressional district, serving since 1991, a total of 33.20198 years. A member of the Democratic Party, she is the most senior of the twelve black women currently serving in the United States Congress, and a member and former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. Before becoming a member of Congress she served in the California Assembly, to which she was first elected back when Disco was in flower, in 1976, which would make it 48.19992 years. She has been a politician for virtually all her adult life. If she was a little brighter she'd be a Communist...
of Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party, demanded the individual blocking her access to reveal his name, but he refused.

The White House on Tuesday reacted to Waters' aggressive behavior, calling her 'annoying AF.'
LOLz
'This deranged behavior is like a scene ripped straight out of Flowers in the Attic,' White House Director of Communications Steven Cheung wrote on social media.

DOGE employees continue to fan across federal agencies as the group looks to cut wasteful spending.

Democrats have rallied behind activists protesting Musk's efforts to cut costs, announcing Monday his decision to launch a special task force to combat Trump's actions to cut government.

The group is co-chaired by Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), along with Gerry Connolly (D-VA) and Jamie Raskin (D-MD), two members of Congress from states bordering Washington, DC.

'We are engaged in a multifaceted struggle to protect and defend everyday Americans from the harm being inflicted by this administration,' Jeffries wrote in a letter announcing the group.

Republican Speaker Mike Johnson endorsed Musk’s efforts during a presser on Tuesday.

’What Elon and the DOGE effort is doing right now is what Congress has been unable to do in recent years because the agencies have hidden some of this from us,’ he said, calling their efforts ’good, and right for the American people.’

’Stay tuned, there is a lot more to come,’ he added.

Link

Home Front: Politix

Republican AGs back Trump federal employee buyout [65000 to date] as judge decides 'Fork in the Road' blocked longer

2025-02-11

[FoxBusinessNews] The Trump admin extended the deferred resignation offer deadline until 11:59 pm EST Monday

As Big Labor challenges President Donald Trump’s federal employee buyout order, Republican attorneys general from 22 states came to the administration’s defense late Sunday.

On Monday, a federal judge in Boston will weigh the legality of the Trump administration's U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) "Fork Directive."

Federal employees have until 11:59 p.m. Monday to decide if they are submitting their deferred resignation in return for eight months of paid leave.

On Feb. 2, 2 million federal employees received an email after business hours closed advising them of a "fork in the road" – they were told they could accept eight months of paid leave if they agreed to resign by Feb. 6. The buyout offer, which came as part of Elon Musk’s effort to reduce federal waste at the Department of Government Efficiency, prompted a swift blow back from federal labor unions, which argued the Fork Directive is unlawful under the Administrative Procedure Act and Antideficiency Act and that they will suffer "irreparable harm."

Montana Attorney General Austen Knudsen – joined by the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and West Virginia – challenged those arguments brought by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations in court.

The late Sunday amicus curiae brief filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts said the federal labor unions "complain" about Trump’s executive orders about the federal workforce and allege the president is eliminating offices and programs supported by congressional appropriations, but "do not challenge the authority to issue the Fork Directive or its constitutionality" because "such a challenge would inevitably fail."

"Courts should refrain from intruding into the President’s well-settled Article II authority to supervise and manage the federal workforce," the filing said. "Plaintiffs seek to inject this Court into federal workforce decisions made by the President and his team. The Court can avoid raising any separation of powers concerns by denying Plaintiffs’ relief and allowing the President and his team to manage the federal workforce."

The Republican attorneys general asked the court to deny the plaintiffs' motion for a temporary restraining order.

The Fork Directive reports that Trump is reforming the federal workforce around four pillars: return to office, performance culture, more streamlined and flexible workforce, and enhanced standards of conduct. It is intended to "improve services that the federal workforce provides to Americans" by "freeing up government resources and revenue to focus on better serving the American people," the filing said.

The filing noted that 65,000 federal workers had already accepted the voluntary deferred resignation offer by its original Feb. 6 deadline.

Federal judge halts Trump’s fed worker buyouts — after 65K take up the offer
Feb. 10, 2025, 6:03 p.m. ET
[NYPost] A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from moving forward with a plan to buy out tens of thousands of government workers.

In an order from the bench, Boston US District Judge George O’Toole Jr. paused a deadline requiring all federal employees to either take the severance offer or return to their offices until he determines whether to slap the administration with a preliminary injunction sought by three public sector unions.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) offered the buyouts on Jan. 28 to more than 2 million federal workers after President Trump signed an executive order requiring agencies “to terminate remote work arrangements” and to force employees back to “their respective duty stations” full-time.

“We are pleased that today the court continued his injunction from last week, continuing to enjoin OPM and defendants from implementing the fork in the road directive, the so-called bailout,” said Elena Goldstein, a lawyer for Democracy Forward, which is repping the unions.

“We hope that this decision today will provide civil service workers with the assurance that the American people have their backs. And we will continue to pursue all legal options to ensure that they are protected and that the law is upheld.”

OPM warned last week that government employees who did not take the buyout by Feb. 6 would not be given a second chance to receive full pay and benefits until the end of the fiscal year Sept. 30.

O’Toole, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, lifted that deadline indefinitely following the afternoon hearing.

Here is a long take on the court injunction crisis, which is less crisis than an opportunity…

OK, stop panicking about all the stupid legal decisions from leftist judges that the left is getting from judge shopping in leftist jurisdictions.
Stop. Panicking.
First, no one should…
— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) February 11, 2025

First, no one should be surprised by any of this. The administration certainly isn’t. We always knew exactly what they would do. Do not take the fact they are not screaming and yelling as them rolling over. They are not rolling over. There’s plenty going on behind the scenes as administration lawyers prepare their papers for the legal fight to come.

Second, since we have to have this fight, this is the time and the battleground to have it. Why? We want it settled right at the beginning of the administration so that we don’t have to deal with this down the road. And we want to fight on these orders because 1) they are manifestly the result of bad faith judge shopping and the opinions themselves are both procedural and 2) they are substantively ridiculous. They are legal jokes. Don’t listen to the dummy lawyers on Twitter - only listen to me or the people I tell you that you can rely on. Everyone telling you these are reasoned, valid legal decisions is either a legal illiterate or thinks you are stupid.

Third, the way this fight is happening is to our advantage. Wait, you ask, we’re getting decision after decision against us! How can that be good? Because they are leaving the Supreme Court no choice. People want Trump to sound off about this, but he doesn’t need to. What’s left unstated is the fact that he can just not obey these manifestly improper orders. They say it’s a constitutional crisis now, but that becomes a real one when they push Trump too far. He’s not going to submit forever to micromanagement of the executive branch by activist District Court judges in blue cities across America. And Chief Justice Roberts knows it.

CJ Roberts and majority of the court know these are ridiculous legally, and the last thing they want to do is stake the credibility of the Court – which famously has no divisions – on this kind of nonsense. They are not going to jump on the grenade that is these decisions. There might someday be a fight with a president about something where he is legally in the wrong, but this is not that time. This is not the hill the Supreme Court will die on. Wisely, Trump’s not adding fuel to the fire by threatening to do what it’s very clear he can do, which is disobey. This provides SCOTUS the cover it needs to deal with these upstart district courts without looking like Trump strong-armed it.

So relax and let the process go forward. We’re going to win on all these injunctions, and I expect fairly quickly

Link

Government Corruption

Unions sue Trump administration over ‘arbitrary and capricious' federal employee buyout offers, Rattled Dems urge fed workers to reject buyout as 20K accept

2025-02-05

[FoxNews] American Federation of Government Employees warns workers to not be 'misled by slick talk from unelected billionaires'.

Rattled Democrats urge Deep State fed employees to reject Trump's buyout as DOGE's offer tempts 20,000

[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] The White House is firing back at Democrats and union bosses who urged federal employees not to take a 'buyout' currently on the table for millions of workers.

Last month, President Donald Trump announced an offer that would allow government workers to resign and continue to be paid through September 30.

So far, around 20,000 have accepted it out of two million, Axios reported Tuesday.

The Trump White House wants to reduce the federal workforce by between 5 and 10 percent.

But the American Federation of Government Employees union is claiming the offer could be a 'trick' and Democrats have slammed it as 'scam.'

The union claims Trump and DOGE leader Elon Musk may not have the authority to make such an offer - meaning federal employees who quit might not get paid out.

Democrats including top lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee Reps. Jamie Raskin and Gerry Connolly have called the offer an 'illegal scam' and demanded Trump rescind it immediately.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has also been vocal against Trump's plans, including the buyout and the federal funding freeze he called 'evil.'

'The American people will not stand for an un-elected secret group to run rampant through the executive branch,' Schumer said about DOGE on Tuesday.

'Being innovative is good, but Mr. Musk, this isn't a tech startup. These are public institutions.'

But the Trump administration's Office of Personnel Management (OPM) pushed back on those fears in a statement to DailyMail.com.

'Union leaders and politicians telling federal workers to reject this offer are doing them a serious disservice,' spokeswoman McLaurine Pinover said. 'This is a rare, generous opportunity - one that was thoroughly vetted and intentionally designed to support employees through restructuring.'

Pinover added: 'Instead of spreading misinformation and using workers as political pawns, they should be making sure federal employees have the facts and freedom to make the best decision for themselves and their families,' she added.

Katie Miller, the wife of top Trump aide Stephen Miller, who is now working on an advisory board for DOGE, confirmed that the buyout email was being sent out to 'more than TWO MILLION federal employees.'

The Washington Post reported Tuesday on an email sent to employees of the General Services Administration saying that layoffs across the federal government are 'likely.'

The OPM memo also warned that it would be subjecting federal employees to 'enhanced standards of suitability and conduct' and gave notice to the workforce that there would be additional downsizing down the line.

This wording gave union leadership pause.

'Purging the federal government of dedicated career federal employees will have vast, unintended consequences that will cause chaos for the Americans who depend on a functioning federal government,' AFGE union President Everett Kelley said.

'Between the flurry of anti-worker executive orders and policies, it is clear that the Trump administration's goal is to turn the federal government into a toxic environment where workers cannot stay even if they want to,' he said.

Others warned that the buyout deal might not stick.

'There's no budget line item to pay people who are not showing up for work,' said Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine during a Senate floor speech last week. 'Don't be fooled. He's tricked hundreds of people with that offer.'

If you accept that offer and resign, he'll stiff you just like he stiffed the contractors,' Kaine said.

An OPM source countered that claim saying the Deferred Resignation Program was 'not a hastily assembled program.'

'It has undergone extensive legal review by experts in the field to ensure fairness and compliance,' the source said. 'This is a rare opportunity - not a buyout or a loophole - but a deliberate effort to provide employees with financial stability as agencies adjust their workforce.'

Thursday is the deadline for federal employees to decide.

Link

-Great Cultural Revolution

Stay-at-Home Bureaucrats: Congressional probe exposes billions in waste from federal telework gigs

2025-01-16

[JustTheNews] "The Biden-Harris Administration has ceded too much authority to the federal union bosses, allowing their preference to work from home to take precedence over fulfilling agencies’ missions and serving the American people," Rep. James Comer said.

The House Oversight and Accountability Committee found Wednesday that vast numbers of federal employees telework from home, wasting billions of taxpayer dollars spent on office space, and the Biden administration has enabled such accommodations to continue during President-elect Donald Trump’s next administration.

“The Biden-Harris administration has ceded too much authority to the federal union bosses, allowing their preference to work from home to take precedence over fulfilling agencies’ missions and serving the American people,” the committee declared in a report decrying the continued widespread use of telework since the COVID-19 pandemic ended.

The report’s release came ahead of a hearing held by House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., on Wednesday called “The Stay-at-Home Federal Workforce: Another Biden-Harris Legacy,” at 10 a.m. Eastern Time.

TELEWORK FINDINGS
The committee found the Biden administration appears to exaggerate the number of federal employees working in-office. The administration’s own data shows that as of last May, among “the 2.28 million federal civilian employees, approximately 228,000 are never required to show up to the office, and nearly all of the other 1.1 million employees technically-eligible for telework are engaged in telework.” The employees eligible for telework “were in the office an average of three days a week.”

Additionally, several agencies have telework-eligible employees who “collectively spend less than half their work hours in the office.” Employees who telework “must report to the office on occasion,” whereas, “remote employees never need to show up to work.”

Teleworking employees have roughly doubled since before the COVID-19 pandemic, and remote workers have jumped from 2% to 10% since fiscal year 2019.

"[B]etween September 2019 and May 2024, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) went from 2 percent remote to 29 percent; OPM went from 7 percent remote to 40 percent remote; the General Services Administration (GSA) went from 6 percent remote to 50 percent remote; and the Department of Education (ED) workforce went from 2 percent remote to 55 percent remote," the report reads.

UNUSED OFFICE SPACE
In a July 2023 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report referenced by the House committee report, the federal agency “found that 17 of the 24 federal agencies used on average an estimated 25 percent or less of the capacity of their headquarter buildings.”

Furthermore, “Some agency headquarters reported occupancy rates as low as nine percent.” The U.S. government spends about $7 billion a year to lease and maintain federal agency office space.

During a November 2023 hearing with General Services Administration Administrator (GSA) Robin Carnahan, Comer said, “Federal agencies spent $3.3 billion dollars on furniture over the past few years apparently to furnish office spaces left mostly empty under maximum telework. Some agencies spent hundreds of thousands of dollars just on updating empty conference rooms.”

Carnahan herself “only worked at GSA headquarters in D.C. for 64 workdays—approximately one in four work days—from March 2022 to March 2023. She spent most of her time, 121 days, teleworking from Missouri,” according to the report.

CONTINUED TELEWORK INTO TRUMP ADMIN
Some Biden administration officials “collaborated with union allies to further entrench telework guarantees for portions of the federal workforce covered by collective bargaining agreements,” according to the report.

Last April, the Office of Personnel Management issued a rule “aimed to more deeply entrench the federal workforce by restricting executive discretion over the classification of federal employee positions,” the report reads. The rule does not include meaningful telework reforms and “seeks to prevent the incoming Trump Administration from holding ineffective bureaucrats accountable.”

Also, “the outgoing Biden-Harris Administration entered into long-term [collective bargaining agreements] with federal employee unions that limit management authority through unprecedented concessions, including guaranteeing telework for federal bureaucrats.”

For example, in late November, then-Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA) Martin O’Malley approved an agreement with the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) that "seeks to lock in minimum telework levels for 42,000 SSA employees until 2029.”

The agreement was reached after O’Malley announced that he would be running for Democratic National Committee chair and days before he resigned from SSA.

“Nearly all of the 58,875 SSA employees are telework eligible, and those eligible employees have spent only 46.9 percent of their time in the office,” according to the report.

“President Trump has promised to reform the federal workforce and bring federal employees back to their offices,” the report explains. “The Biden-Harris Administration’s lame duck political gamesmanship will hinder and constrain the ability of the incoming Trump Administration to manage employees effectively and responsibly, and to increase accountability to the public.”

AFGE released a statement ahead of the House Oversight panel hearing on Wednesday:

“As a preliminary matter, AFGE is compelled to note that the title of today’s hearing unfortunately distorts how telework fits into larger work practices and protocols at federal agencies in order to unjustly criticize federal employees. Hardworking, dedicated federal employees should not be derided as ‘stay-at-home workers.’ Our members perform vital roles in public safety, law enforcement, and health care – including providing care for active-duty military and millions of veterans. The majority of our members were ineligible for telework even when the pandemic was at its worst and no vaccines or treatments were available. Many members died of COVID during this period, likely contracted while performing their work for the American people. For many thousands of our members, it is thus bitterly ironic to now castigate the ‘stay-at-home federal workforce.’”

REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS

The report lists nine recommendations for telework reform in the federal government. The recommendations are:

Base telework and remote work policies on achievement of mission outcomes, not employee preferences or union demands.

Establish automated systems for tracking the use of telework and remote work, and create clear, measurable metrics to evaluate its costs and benefits.

Impose more frequent and timely reporting requirements on agency-level telework, to better inform Executive Branch leaders, Congress and the public.

Use the White House and central management agencies to implement an enterprise-wide approach to telework and remote work that prioritizes the public interest. Do not permit a telework bidding war among agencies looking to attract federal workers that transfer between them based on which will let them stay home the most.

Align the federal property footprint with the government’s office space needs. Dispose of unneeded property and terminate unnecessary leases, while optimizing use of the space that remains.

Introduce and enact a new version of the SHOW Up Act, restoring agency telework to no more than pre- pandemic levels. Only permit higher levels at agencies that make a convincing, measurable case for doing so.

Consider legislation disallowing collective bargaining over federal employee telework.

Consider legislation that would open to renegotiation at the start of each new Presidential term all existing collective bargaining agreements with federal employees.

Consider legislation to pay all remote federal employees at the rest of United States' locality pay rate, to encourage a broader geographic dispersion of the federal workforce, and to reduce cost to taxpayers.

The Daily Mail adds:

Top Republican James Comer is leading the charge in Congress to drag 228,000 federal government employees back into the office.

This week, he's working to provide Donald Trump suggestions for a new government 'business model' to cut down on the staggering number of federal teleworkers.

Comer, who chairs the powerful House Oversight Committee, is holding a hearing Wednesday on federal teleworking practices that have persisted long after the COVID pandemic.

'We know that more than half of the federal employees, and a vast majority of federal office workers, are either regularly teleworking or fully remote,' Comer revealed to DailyMail.com exclusively.

With roughly 2.2 million civilian federal employees, the vast scope of how many of government's workers are remote has been difficult to quantify, the Republican admitted. Comer also shared that he spoke to Donald Trump about the scale of teleworking over the weekend when he was visiting the president-elect at Mar-a-Lago along with other lawmakers.

'At the very least, President Trump expects the federal workforce to show up for work,' the chairman said of their chat.

The lawmaker also shared he will share his findings with Trump, who he then expects will use the information to inform his cost-cutting initiatives, such as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

'What we're trying to do, as quick as he gets in office, is to provide him with as much data as possible, to help them try to come up with a new business model of the federal government and the federal work,' Comer shared.

Link

Home Front: Politix

Trump says he will tap Elon Musk to lead government efficiency commission if elected

2024-09-07

[IsraelTimes] US presidential candidate gives few details about how commission would operate, other than placing billionaire supporter at the helm

Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump

...Oh, noze! Not him!...
said on Thursday he would establish a government efficiency commission headed by billionaire supporter Elon Musk if he wins the November 5 election, during a wide-ranging speech in which he laid out his economic vision for the country.

Speaking at the New York Economic Club, the former president also pledged to slash corporate tax rates for companies that manufacture domestically, establish "low-tax" zones on federal lands where construction companies would be encouraged to build new homes and start a sovereign wealth fund.

Trump had been discussing the idea of an efficiency commission with aides for weeks, people with knowledge of those conversations have told Rooters. His Thursday speech, however, was the first time he publicly endorsed the idea.

It was also the first time Trump said Musk had agreed to head the body. Trump did not detail how such a commission would operate, besides saying it would develop a plan to eliminate "fraud and improper payments" within six months of being formed.

"I will create a government efficiency commission tasked with conducting a complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government," Trump told an audience that included his former treasury secretary, Steve Mnuchin, and financiers Scott Bessent and John Paulson.

Musk said on an August 19 podcast that he had held conversations with the former president about the commission and that he would be interested in serving on it.

"I look forward to serving America if the opportunity arises," the Tesla chief wrote on X on Thursday. "No pay, no title, no recognition is needed."

Politicians have called for separate efficiency commissions before. Republican President Ronald Reagan established a similar body during his 1981-1989 term called the Grace Commission.

Trump’s proposal drew a rebuke from Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, a union representing about 750,000 federal workers. He accused Trump and Musk of wanting to gut the nonpartisan civil service and replace fired workers with allies.

Link

Government Corruption

Biden sets a trap for any Republican who succeeds him in the presidency

2023-09-23

Digging the Deep State deeper.
Like a tick when you try to pull it.
[FoxNews] There are more than 2 million federal workers. As a group, they overwhelmingly lean left.

The Biden administration is setting a booby trap in case a Republican wins the presidency in 2024.

On Friday, the White House unveiled a proposed rule that would make it even harder than in the past for an incoming Republican president to wrestle control of the left-leaning federal bureaucracy and actually implement the conservative policies promised to voters.

The answer to presidential executive orders is bills passed into law in Congress. But the only way to accomplish something like this is to get veto-proof Republican majorities in both Houses of Congress... in the first weeks after the Republican president takes office, whoever he turns out to be. Hit the ground running, guys!

Of the 2.2 million federal civil workers, only 4,000 are presidential appointees. The rest stay in their jobs, from one administration to the next, protected by rules that make it nearly impossible to discipline or replace them.

They overwhelmingly favor the left. A staggering 95% of unionized federal employees who donate to political candidates give to Democrats, according to Open Secrets. Only a tiny 5% support Republicans.

Some federal workers in high positions slow-walk or even derail a Republican president's agenda — and get away with it.

Why bother to vote if the left-leaning deep state stays in charge no matter who wins the presidency?

GOP candidates Donald Trump, Vivek Ramaswamy and Ron DeSantis are vowing to conquer this obstructionism.

Everett Kelley, union president of the American Federation of Government Employees, claims GOP contenders want to "politicize routine government work." Nonsense. We're not talking about mail carriers. It's time to make lawyers, PhDs and other top-level career bureaucrats implement the president's agenda, not their own.

After Trump won in 2016, they went to town neutralizing him on almost every policy front, explains James Sherk, special assistant to the White House Domestic Policy Council under Trump.

Career lawyers in the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division flat out refused to challenge Yale University's discrimination against Asian American applicants. Trump had to recruit lawyers from other divisions. After Joe Biden became president, the DOJ dropped the case. But the same career lawyers who refused to sue Yale made the losing argument in support of affirmative action before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Career health officials like Dr. Deborah Birx circumvented Trump's instructions to moderate COVID lockdowns. Environmental Protection Agency lawyers pursued cases against fossil fuel producers and withheld the information from Trump appointees.

Trump mandated in a 2020 executive order that new federal buildings be designed to please the public, which prefers classical designs. Instead, General Services Administration architects chose modern designs they like. Trump mentioned as an example the San Francisco Federal Building, the ugliest edifice in the city.

It goes on, including weaponization of the FBI against the president himself.

In October 2020, Trump issued an executive order that federal workers who make policy should be reclassified as at-will employees who can be terminated.

But before it could be implemented, Biden became president. He canceled it immediately, knowing the bureaucrats were on his side.

The rule announced Friday would slow a president's ability to reinstate Trump's order. Democrats in Congress are going further, pushing to eliminate the president's authority to reclassify jobs altogether.

The New York Times announced, "Biden Administration Aims to Trump-Proof the Federal Work Force."

Ramaswamy vows to go further than Trump, eliminating half or more of civil service positions. "Speaking as a CEO, if somebody works for you and you can't fire them, they don't work for you," he said in a speech on Sept. 12.

Link

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