US President Donald Trump's plan to streamline the federal apparatus faces new challenges.
The Hill reported on February 28 that federal judge John Bates has ordered four officials in the Trump administration to explain the legality of mass firings of federal employees and testify about the transparency of billionaire Elon Musk’s Office of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Previously, on February 19, the Economic Policy Institute and six labor unions filed a lawsuit, accusing DOGE of exceeding its authority.
"Illegal conduct"
In San Francisco, California, federal judge William Alsup on February 27 ruled that the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) should rescind its directive to fire probationary employees at several federal agencies. Accordingly, OPM must withdraw its January 20 memo and February 24 email asking agencies such as the Department of Defense and the National Park Service to determine which employees should be fired.
Mr. Trump praised billionaire Musk, 'those who are not happy will be kicked out'
Judge Alsup said the firings may have been illegal, Axios reported. Although Congress has given agencies the power to hire and fire, OPM can only fire its own employees, not employees of other agencies, he said. The ruling was issued in response to a lawsuit filed by unions and organizations representing federal employees. The plaintiffs accused OPM of breaking the law by ordering other agencies to terminate all probationary employees. According to CNN, there are an estimated 200,000 probationary employees, who typically work for less than a year, at federal agencies.
Protest against staff cuts at the Environmental Protection Agency in Illinois (USA) on February 18.
In another development related to the streamlining issue, US Postal Service (USPS) CEO Louis DeJoy has urged employees to ignore rumors that Mr. Trump might unilaterally take control of the agency. Reuters quoted him as emphasizing to the 640,000 employees that the USPS was established under federal law, so the president needs to coordinate with Congress if he wants to change the law.
New way?
In a personnel move, OPM has issued an ultimatum forcing dozens of agency employees to decide whether to move to Washington DC by March 7. Some employees thousands of miles away received emails warning them that if they did not move to Washington DC, “your continued employment with the agency will be limited and the agency may pursue adverse action against you.”
Why did billionaire Musk's DOGE employees quit en masse?
The National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE), which represents 110,000 federal workers, said this was the first time it had heard of the Trump administration asking people to move to Washington. “This is another way to attack and force people to leave their jobs,” NFFE CEO Steve Lenkart told Reuters. OPM and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The US government has so far laid off or offered paid leave to about 100,000 of its 2.3 million federal employees in an unprecedented effort to cut staff. The White House has not released an official figure on how many people have been laid off as part of the plan.
5 former US Defense Secretaries speak out
The Washington Post reported on February 28 that five former US Defense Secretaries William Perry, Leon Panetta, Chuck Hagel, James Mattis and Lloyd Austin strongly opposed President Trump's dismissal of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Charles Q. Brown and other senior officials. They accused Mr. Trump of trying to turn the US military into a partisan political tool and using the dismissal to "remove legal constraints on the president's power". In addition, they called on Congress not to approve any candidates proposed to replace those positions.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/no-luc-cat-giam-nhan-su-cua-ong-trump-gap-kho-185250228231323171.htm
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