The second Trump administration has the federal workforce in its crosshairs. Spearheading the effort is Elon Musk (the richest man in the world) and his so-called Department of Government Efficiency (not actually a government department).
Donald Trump and Musk have taken a shotgun-blast approach: instituting a hiring freeze, shutting down whole agencies, telling workers to stop coming in, offering buyouts to two million workers, ordering remote workers back to the office in violation of union contracts, and mass-firing workers still in their probationary periods.
In a flurry of executive orders his first day in office, Trump opened the door to moving federal workers out of positions protected by civil-service rules and targeted remote work policies and diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.
The changes appear designed to create chaos among federal workers, their unions, and those who rely on federal programs. They have come fast and numerous, seemingly without regard to legality.
Many changes have been challenged legally, and some have already been stopped in the courts. But while only some will ultimately stick, there’s a lot of damage that will be hard to undo — and the chaos is meant to keep Trump’s opponents occupied, afraid, dispirited, and on the defensive.
Federal unions have begun to respond by filing lawsuits and holding rallies. And workers are organizing themselves to share information and begin to fight back. A rank-and-file group called the Federal Unionists Network is planning a nationwide “Save Our Services” day of action on February 19, targeting the dealerships of Musk’s car company Tesla — sign up here to participate locally.
“I’ve never seen a billionaire carry the mail,” said Mark Smith, a patient…
Auteur: Joe DeManuelle-Hall
