"During the first eight months of his second presidency, Donald Trump has tried to hollow out the federal workforce by any means possible, including paying more than 200,000 people not to work, disassembling entire agencies via the Department of Government Efficiency, and fighting in court any effort by employees to hang on to their job. This week, Trump could try his most audacious move yet: using a government shutdown to conduct mass firings."
"Now Trump is using the threat of permanent job cuts to specifically target jobs that don't align with his priorities, aides told us. The president, who in recent weeks has been firing federal prosecutors who don't bend to his will, has become bolder in his push to reshape the government to suit his preferences. And he's empowered Russell Vought, the White House budget director who has long been an evangelist of slashing the government, to cut away."
During the first eight months of his second presidency, Donald Trump pursued reductions in the federal workforce through buyouts, paid furloughs for over 200,000 employees, agency dismantling via the Department of Government Efficiency, and litigation to remove employees. Voluntary-resignation programs and targeted threats of permanent cuts have been used to eliminate positions that do not align with presidential priorities. The administration has fired federal prosecutors who resisted and empowered budget director Russell Vought to push deeper cuts. A potential government shutdown could accelerate mass firings as civil-service protections and collective-bargaining complexities collide with funding gaps.
Read at The Atlantic
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]