Appeals court delivers Trump a 'huge victory' in VOA layoffs suit, sets stage for additional wins



The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit delivered the Trump administration a "huge victory" on Saturday, blocking the order of a lesser court that required the reinstatement of over 1,000 Voice of America employees.

Kari Lake, senior adviser for the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which supervises Voice of America, the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, and a handful of other state-funded outfits including Radio Free Europe, called the ruling a "BIG WIN in our legal cases at USAGM & Voice of America. Huge victory for President Trump and Article II."

"Turns out the District Court judge will not be able to manage the agency as he seemed to want to," added Lake.

The appeals court's 2-1 ruling, which saw Trump-appointed Judges Gregory Katsas and Neomi Rao pitted against dissenting Obama-appointed Judge Cornelia Pillard, held that "the government is likely to succeed on the merits because the district court likely lacked subject-matter jurisdiction to enjoin USAGM's personnel actions and to compel the agency to restore RFA's and MBN's FY 2025 grants."

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on March 14 aimed at reducing various "unnecessary" elements of the federal bureaucracy "to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law." Among the entities targeted was the USAGM.

'Ensure that taxpayers are no longer on the hook for radical propaganda.'

In a corresponding fact sheet, the White House shared links to articles criticizing the quality and neutrality of the state media outfit's output, as well as a link to a write-up of the American Accountability Foundation's 2022 lawsuit alleging that VOA had "been infiltrated by anti-American, pro-Islamic state interests."

Blaze News previously reported that pursuant to the president's executive order, approximately 1,300 VOA journalists and other employees were placed on administrative leave, and funding was suspended to VOA's sister networks.

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth ruled against the administration on April 22, noting that its stated efforts to "ensure that taxpayers are no longer on the hook for radical propaganda" were "arbitrary and capricious" and "likely in direct violation of numerous federal laws," including the VOA's congressionally established charter in the International Broadcasting Act.

Lamberth ordered the administration to "take all necessary steps to return USAGM employees and contractors to their status" prior to Trump's March 14 EO; to restore VOA programming; and to restore fiscal year 2025 grants to Radio Free Asia and Middle East Broadcasting Networks. He also demanded that the administration provide him with monthly status reports "apprising the Court of the status of the defendants' compliance with this Order."

'The injunction threatens its prerogative to "speak with one voice" on behalf of the United States in foreign affairs.'

The appeals court said in its Saturday ruling that Lamberth "likely lacked jurisdiction over the USAGM's personnel decisions" as federal employees may not use the Administrative Procedure Act to challenge agency employee actions.

"Congress has instead established comprehensive statutory schemes for adjudicating employment disputes with the federal government," noted the court.

While the dissenting Obama judge on the appeals court expressed doubt that Congress' chosen administrative methods could properly process agency-wide claims for over 1,000 employees, the majority noted that "administrative agencies are not powerless to issue broad-reaching relief in large-scale personnel matters."

The court said that Lamberth similarly lacked jurisdiction to restore Radio Free Asia and Middle East Broadcasting Networks' grants for fiscal year 2025.

"If a claim against the United States is contractual 'at its essence,' district courts have no power to resolve it," wrote the majority. That authority belongs to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

The appeals court also recognized that Lamberth's order requiring the restoration of all employees and contractors is a harmful "intrusion" that implicates the Trump administration's foreign-affairs authority since USAGM is responsible for presenting the views of the government and supporting U.S. foreign policy.

"By depriving the Executive Branch of control over the individuals involved in its international broadcasting, the injunction threatens its prerogative to 'speak with one voice' on behalf of the United States in foreign affairs," said the court.

Margot Cleveland, senior legal correspondent at the Federalist, noted that this "conclusion should have wide-spread ramifications" because many of the legal challenges brought against the Trump administration "are about employment decisions which CONGRESS said are NOT for district courts to decide."

The appeals court's decision landed a day after the Department of Justice notified lawyers representing VOA workers that they could return to work this week.

In a letter obtained by The Hill sent to VOA staffers' lawyers, the DOJ wrote, "USAGM currently expects staff to begin to return to the office next week, as security, building space, and equipment issues require a phased return."

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Wisconsin Supreme Court Removes Federally Charged Judge From The Bench

Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan is charged with interfering with the arrest of an illegal immigrant facing battery charges.

What A Waste: Federal Agencies Spent $4.6 Billion On Furniture For Empty Buildings

The hefty expenditures are part of the federal government's big property problem, wasting mountains of taxpayer money.

Trump's newly confirmed education secretary outlines DOE's 'final mission'



The U.S. Senate confirmed Linda McMahon as education secretary on Monday in a 51-45 vote along party lines.

McMahon expressed her gratitude to President Donald Trump and noted that she is "prepared to lead the Department in this transformational time and embrace the challenge to improve the education system for the more than 100 million children and college students who deserve better."

Shortly after taking the oath of office, McMahon provided an idea of how she plans to follow through on Trump's education-related campaign promises and recent executive orders.

McMahon said in a Tuesday statement titled "Our Department's Final Mission" that despite taxpayers sinking over $1 trillion into the Department of Education since it began operations nearly 45 years ago — blowing $268 billion in fiscal year 2024 alone — "the reality of our education system is stark."

'The Department of Education's role in this new era of accountability is to restore the rightful role of state oversight in education.'

"Student outcomes have consistently languished. Millions of young Americans are trapped in failing schools, subjected to radical anti-American ideology, or saddled with college debt for a degree that has not provided a meaningful return on their investment," wrote McMahon. "Teachers are leaving the profession in droves after just a few years — and citing red tape as one of their primary reasons."

To avoid throwing more good money after bad, to halt the standardization of students nationwide by a low standard, and to altogether eliminate "bureaucratic bloat," McMahon indicated the DOE must undergo a "historic overhaul" with the following three guiding principles in mind:

  • "Parents are the primary decision makers in their children's education."
  • "Taxpayer-funded education should refocus on meaningful learning in math, reading, science, and history — not divisive DEI programs and gender ideology."
  • "Postsecondary education should be a path to a well-paying career aligned with workforce needs."

"The Department of Education's role in this new era of accountability is to restore the rightful role of state oversight in education and to end the overreach in Washington," wrote McMahon.

According to McMahon, this restoration at the federal department Trump said he wants shuttered will "profoundly impact staff, budgets, and agency operations."

The education secretary indicated that among the impactful decisions planned is a transfer of educational oversight to the states; a removal of red tape and bureaucratic barriers; and a return to the basics in the classroom.

Already, the DOE has taken action to eliminate race-obsessive DEI initiatives per the president's Jan. 20 executive ordertitled "Ending radical and wasteful government DEI programs and preferencing"; canceling ongoing DEI training and service contracts; placing DEI commissars on administrative leave; ditching the department's equity action plan; creating an "End DEI" public portal for parents, students, and teachers; and scrubbing DEI resources from the department's website.

The department has also "welcomed back" its employees to in-person work; offered its roughly 4,000 employees $25,000 to hit the bricks; reined in the federal government's influence of state Charter School Program grant awards; canceled billions of dollars-worth of grants to radical outfits; and restored the first Trump administration's Title IX rule protecting women and deep-sixed Biden-era guidance regarding transvestites in girls' sports.

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Blaze News investigates: Critics say Trump's mass firings of probationary bureaucrats are unlawful. They're wrong.



President Donald Trump faced a variety of obstacles when attempting to advance the MAGA agenda in his first term.

While Democratic lawmakers, some members of his own party, and leftist groups worked hard to impede the execution of the president's will, the federal bureaucracy also played a significant role, particularly those identifying with the so-called "resistance."

Although the GOP is now largely on board, the Democratic Party is greatly weakened, and leftist groups are on the back foot, Trump appears unwilling to take any chances regarding those charged with executing his agenda.

In the name of addressing government bloat and maximizing efficiency but also clearly seeking to oust Biden loyalists and other obstructionists, the second Trump administration has worked to shake up the federal workforce.

As part of this shake-up, the White House has instructed agencies to fire probationary federal workers.

Democratic lawmakers and advocates for fired and soon-to-be-fired bureaucrats claim the terminations are unlawful. The Trump administration maintains that the firings are not only lawful but aimed at ensuring that the federal workforce comprises "qualified, high-performing individuals who support the mission of federal agencies."

Experts with penetrating insights into presidential authority and the workings of the federal government suggested to Blaze New that when it comes to canning probationers, the Trump administration stands on firm legal ground. Accordingly, the recent sound and fury from Democratic lawmakers and deep-staters largely signify nothing.

Housecleaning

Trump wasted no time kicking various career agency employees and political appointees to the curb. For instance, in his first week in office, he fired the inspectors general from at least 17 federal agencies.

While the Trump administration has been ousting and replacing senior bureaucrats and political appointees across the federal government, it appears especially keen on addressing the submerged portion of the bureaucratic iceberg — on shrinking and optimizing the federal workforce, which the White House indicated exceeds 2.4 million people, excluding active-duty military and Postal Service employees.

To move the needle forward, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management offered buyouts to millions of full-time federal employees last month. Even though the offer has faced legal challenges, roughly 75,000 have reportedly taken the deal.

While the Trump administration has both greased some workers' exits and fired numerous low-performing bureaucrats in non-critical roles, the White House has also set its sights on federal employees on probationary periods, which could apparently impact over 200,000 workers.

'Performance has not been adequate to justify further employment at the agency.'

Probationary workers are recent agency hires or employees moved or promoted into new positions who generally do not have rights to appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board over suspensions, demotions, and removals. An OPM spokesman noted in a statement to Blaze News that "the probationary period is a continuation of the job application process, not an entitlement for permanent employment."

Charles Ezell, the acting director of the OPM, asked agency heads in a Jan. 20 memo to identify all probationary employees who have served less than a year in a competitive service appointment or who have served less than two years in an excepted service appointment.

After initially instructing agencies to fire the poor performers among their probationary employees, the OPM issued a directive on Feb. 13 to commence firing the remainder of their probationers.

Between the time of the order and Feb. 20, various agencies followed through or were in the process of doing so. For instance, over 1,000 probationary employees were fired at the Department of Veterans Affairs; around 400 were reportedly fired at the Department of Homeland Security; nearly 1,300 were given the boot at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; thousands were reportedly dismissed from the Interior Department; 3,400 were canned at the U.S. Forest Service; and 168 were fired at the National Science Foundation.

A source said to be familiar with the agency's plans told CBS News that the Internal Revenue Service was expected to can over 6,000 employees by Feb. 21.

Probationers were in some cases told in their termination letters that they were "not fit for continued employment because [their] ability, knowledge and skills do not fit the agency's current needs" and that their "performance has not been adequate to justify further employment at the agency," reported CNN.

When asked about the significance of the firings, Mitch Sollenberger, professor of political science at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, told Blaze News, "The breadth of these actions in such a limited amount of time (30 days or so) is unprecedented and seems to demonstrate the level of sophistication the second-term Trump administration has over the first-term version. Really I can't recall a prior presidential administration so aggressively and thoroughly using the central tenets of the unitary executive theory to take command of the executive branch."

"It is these types of actions that are important because they aren't really 'ends' to themselves," continued Sollenberger. "Trump viewed the 'deep' state as being a problem during his first term in office. Taking action as he's doing seems to be about serving his longer-term policy goals (whatever they are)."

Challenging the broom

Democratic lawmakers and other champions of the deep state have condemned the mass firings. Federal worker unions have begun filing legal challenges, and multiple law firms are advancing class-action complaints.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) suggested after a Delta Air Lines jet crash-landed in Canada that layoffs at the Federal Aviation Administration were "making our skies less and less safe."

'This administration has abused the probationary period to conduct a politically driven mass firing spree.'

On Wednesday, 90 House Democrats decried the firing of probationers at Veterans Affairs, suggesting that contrary to Secretary Doug Collins' insistence that the firings "will not negatively impact VA health care, benefits, or beneficiaries," the affected positions were somehow "critical to health care, benefits, and research."

While Democrats are trying to paint the firings as a threat to government function, unions are leaning on the notion that the firings are somehow illegal in a desperate attempt to protect prospective dues-paying members.

Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest union for civilian federal employees, vowed to "fight these firings every step of the way."

"This administration has abused the probationary period to conduct a politically driven mass firing spree, targeting employees not because of performance, but because they were hired before Trump took office," Kelley said in a statement.

"These firings are not about poor performance — there is no evidence these employees were anything but dedicated public servants. They are about power," continued Kelley. "They are about gutting the federal government, silencing workers, and forcing agencies into submission to a radical agenda that prioritizes cronyism over competence."

The AFGE was among the unions that filed a lawsuit Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, seeking to block the mass firings.

'President Trump is on solid legal ground.'

In their complaint, the unions, which are represented by a leftist group that frequently fights Republican election integrity initiatives, alleged that the OPM "lacks the constitutional, statutory, or regulatory authority to order federal agencies to terminate employees in this fashion" and that the firings were both made on false pretenses and unlawful.

The idea that the firings were somehow improper was also advanced in a complaint to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel made on behalf of probationers who were allegedly fired across nine federal agencies on the basis of their probationary status, not because of performance or conduct.

Lawyers from Democracy Forward — a legal outfit established by Democratic Party operatives whose board chair is Marc Elias — and a private firm claimed in the complaint that probationers must be assessed individually and on their performance, reported USA Today.

The complaint suggests that "mass indiscriminate terminations are, by definition, not based on the performance of the individual employee."

Clean sweep

While critics of Trump's efforts to shrink the federal bureaucracy might prove successful in combatting the removal of select full-time employees, it appears their battle over probationers is a lost cause.

John Malcolm, vice president of the Heritage Foundation's Institute for Constitutional Government and director of the think tank's Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, told Blaze News, "So far as I am aware, and as a former federal executive branch employee myself, civil service protection laws (assuming those are constitutional to begin with) do not kick in until after someone passes the probationary period."

"Therefore, I believe that President Trump is on solid legal ground when it comes to terminating probationary employees," added Malcolm, who served as a deputy assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice's Criminal Division from 2001 to 2004.

Sollenberger similarly figures the "Trump administration stands on a bit firmer grounds firing probation employees."

Blaze News reached out to the AFGE for comment but did not receive a response by deadline.

A 2005 Merit Systems Protection Board report to the president and Congress underscored that "until the probationary period has been completed, a probationer is still an applicant for an appointment, with the burden to demonstrate why it is in the public interest for the Government to finalize an appointment to the civil service for this particular individual."

Prior the finalization of employment, "a probationer has only limited job protections."

D.C. labor attorney Suzanne Summerlin told NPR that probationers are entitled to written letters or termination notices stating the reason for their firing but in most cases can't do anything about it — unless they were canned due to discrimination based on their sex, race, disability, or whistleblower status.

'President Trump deserves a lot of credit for turning such talk into action.'

When asked whether it makes a difference whether the Trump administration terminates probationary employees en masse or on an individual basis, Malcolm said it shouldn't make a difference but could prove to be an issue.

Nevertheless, he noted that "courts will typically cut the president more slack when it comes to making programmatic shifts as opposed to individual employment decisions which someone might challenge as having been done for an improper purpose, such as firing somebody because of their race, age, or disability."

"I'm not at all certain that the challenges will be successful if they are raising section 2302 concerns (prohibited personnel practices) unless the argument is that the 'mission-critical' rationale the Trump administration is using is pretextual and the true motive is really about something else that violates the rights of these employees," Sollenberger told Blaze News.

Section 2302 of the U.S. Code prohibits discrimination against any employee or applicant for employment on the basis of race, sex, national origin, marital status, and political affiliation.

Malcolm said that while it is presently difficult to assess the political and institutional significance of the firings under way, it is clear that "the firing of probationary employees is only a small part of the overall restructuring and downsizing of the federal bureaucracy that is currently being undertaken by President Trump, with the assistance, of course, of Elon Musk and DOGE, and the process has just begun."

"Reining in the administrative state and returning more power to the states and to individuals has long been touted as a goal, and a laudable one at that, of the Republican Party," continued Malcolm. "President Trump deserves a lot of credit for turning such talk into action."

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DHS report provides another damning insight into how FEMA wasted billions of dollars



The Federal Emergency Management Agency is tasked with coordinating disaster responses.

It's become clear in recent months that behind the scenes, the agency is something of a disaster itself — prioritizing "equity" as its top strategic goal; blowing hundreds of millions of dollars on an emergency food and shelter program for illegal aliens while American citizens struggled; allegedly giving tens of millions of dollars to luxury hotels to house illegal aliens; reportedly denying aid to Americans on the basis of political affiliation; and bungling disaster relief.

A recent report from the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General revealed that the agency's mismanagement of funds and resources under Biden-nominated FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell is possibly worse than previously imagined.

According to DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari — not among the IGs that President Donald Trump has so far chosen to fire — FEMA mismanaged nearly $10 billion in COVID-19 emergency protective measures grants during fiscal years 2020 through 2023.

The Jan. 30 report indicated the waste at FEMA was the result in part of the agency "not following established requirements when delivering Public Assistance funding." When it came to a medical staffing grant, for example, "FEMA did not validate the reasonableness of cost estimates provided by the state before obligating funds."

FEMA must assess the reasonableness of the estimated costs by reviewing historical documentation, using average area costs, or relying on published cost-estimated services. The report claimed, however, that during the pandemic, the agency didn't bother with proper validation and relied instead on "one sheet of paper with no itemized costs" that "was not prepared by a licensed Professional Engineer or cost-estimated professional" when approving a grant valued at over $1.1 billion.

'FEMA does not have the funds to make it through the season.'

"FEMA's inadequate validation of pre-award costs for the state's medical staffing project contributed to $1.5 billion in funds that could have been put to better use," said the report. "Had the $1.5 billion not been over-obligated to this project, it could have been transferred to the Disaster Relief Fund and made available to provide funding for other disasters."

The inspector general noted further that the agency also didn't bother validating the costs submitted for reimbursement on completed projects before shoveling over taxpayer money.

Analysts with the IG's office apparently selected a random sample of 20 large projects totaling $58 million "from a universe of 8,420 projects ranging from $131,100 through $100 and reviewed pre-award controls." They ultimately found that six of the 20 completed projects, totaling roughly $33 million, lacked the required documentation to validate "completion of the work and actual costs incurred before project award and reimbursement."

FEMA officials were evidently throwing around money without proper confirmation of whether the services were being rendered to eligible participants, whether the jobs were actually getting done, and who if anybody was doing them.

The agency's apparent difficulty properly vetting funding to a single state, which the OIG did not name in the report, led to $8.1 billion of spending that the inspector general is now questioning.

Former Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas complained on Sept. 30 that "FEMA does not have the funds to make it through the season and what is imminent."

It appears that haphazard project approvals and other forms of mismanagement emptied the agency's coffers and put Americans in danger.

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Deep-staters compare government efficiency push to 9/11, Holocaust on Reddit



The Trump administration is working diligently to eliminate bureaucratic bloat and save taxpayers money.

According to individuals identifying as bureaucrats in Reddit's top haunts for American federal workers, these efforts — long championed by a democratically elected president who presently enjoys record-high approval ratings — are apparently comparable to the Holocaust, to the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City, and to a "coup." One user stated in a post, again without a trace of irony, "We're at war."

Besides affording the American public a window into the kinds of derangement and delusion that plague elements of the federal workforce, the increasingly popular Reddit community r/fednews has furnished left-wing publications with supposed evidence of deep-staters' "fighting spirit" as well as with the hope that the "resistance" that undermined the first Trump administration is back.

It is clear from a closer look at the users, engagements, rhetoric, and strategy that appear on r/fednews — which at the time of publication had over 375,000 members — that if reflective of a broader resistance movement, the Trump administration likely has little to worry about this time around.

Cleaning house

President Donald Trump has expressed a desire for nearly a decade to "drain the swamp" in Washington. He revisited and campaigned on the proposal ahead of an election he won handily and is now delivering the goods.

Upon retaking office, Trump ended remote work for federal employees, which is expected to ultimately prompt a great many voluntary exits; took an ax to the federal DEI regime, shuttering race-obsessive offices nationwide and putting multitudes of bureaucrats on administrative leave; ordered a freeze on the hiring of federal civilian employees; and reinstated his 2020 executive order establishing the Schedule F employment category for federal employees, which makes it easier to remove insubordinate and useless bureaucrats from an estimated pool of 50,000 eligible candidates.

These steps alone had bureaucrats, Democratic lawmakers, and other establishmentarians throwing a conniption, but then the administration went a step further and offered buyouts to millions of federal workers in an effort to expedite the downsizing process.

Even though a Clinton-appointed federal judge recently imposed a restraining order against the buyout — which approximately 3% of the federal workforce reportedly had accepted by Feb. 10 — bureaucrats know that the writing is on the wall.

When pressed on how the administration is presently faring in its efforts to address bureaucratic bloat and inefficacy, Donald Devine, senior scholar at the Fund for American Studies and former director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management during the Reagan administration, told Blaze News, "I think they are doing very well in the first phase, letting the employees know who is in charge."

Weeping and gnashing of teeth

While bureaucrats may not want to admit who is in charge, they appear to at the very least understand that it's no longer them. That has not, however, stopped federal workers from trying to undermine the Trump administration at every turn.

Some bureaucrats have begun plotting petty ways to impede the work undertaken by the Trump administration, particularly by members of the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency.

The Washington Post reported, for instance, that General Services Administration staffers created an encrypted chat where together they could scheme how to hide sensitive defense data. Other federal workers reportedly marked emails from the Trump administration as spam "just to piss them off."

Meanwhile, at r/fednews and r/feddiscussion, where paranoia about infiltrators and spies is rampant, there have been calls to:

  • "hold the line" and reject buyout packages;
  • kick theDOGE requests and orders up to senior management and then waste time waiting for approvals in writing;
  • "develop" medical conditions to get around return-to-work orders;
  • defecate in chairs;
  • shield probationary personnel from accountability or termination;
  • slow-walk communications and tasks; and
  • seek involvement in lawsuits challenging Trump's policies.

Other commentators who have taken the governmental house cleaning personally have proposed targeting Elon Musk and others in Trump's orbit with boycotts in hopes of teaching them a lesson.

For instance, one user who goes by Oldschoolfool22, a top commenter on the subreddit, implored his fellow travelers to abandon X, sell their Teslas or let them "self drive off a cliff," sell off Crypto, and avoid watching SpaceX videos "unless it is a crash."

'Punch the s*** out of their f***ing f*** faces.'

Another top commenter, Doubledsmcgee, indicated that she cannot sell off her Tesla but in an act of defiance put a small sticker on its back window condemning Elon Musk.

Doubledsmcgee appears to be one among a great number self-identified bureaucrats on the subreddit primarily outraged over the mandated return to work.

According to the user's comment history, she started work for the Department of the Interior as a grant specialist around 2022. The trouble is that she lives in California, thousands of miles away from her Virginia office where there is now an expectation she'll turn up.

While angry over a matter of personal inconvenience, Doubledsmcgee, like others on the subreddit, suggested that her fight to avoid leaving home is really about honor, stating, "We'll fight for our place because we know the service we provide and the steadfast dedication that we do it with. Civil service isn't always glamorous but it will forever be more respectable and honorable than what [M]usk, Trump and his supporters will ever do in life. Keep the faith."

'Most administrations give in too easily.'

A self-identified Internal Revenue Service employee and Kamala Harris voter who goes by titaniumlid is similarly upset about the return to work. While he alternatively suggested that he can manage the two-hour-and-fifteen-minute commute that it'll take to try to keep his job, he "will absolutely put up any and all posters / propaganda I can to fight this bulls*** if they make me come back and sit at my desk."

Not all self-identified feds on the subreddit appear to think of resistance in terms of poster campaigns and petty schemes.

A frequent poster in the bureaucratic haunt, Informal-Fig-7116, has referenced violent fantasies. When responding to a post by an apparent non-straight fed telling people not to quit, Informal-Fig-7116 wrote, "I'm ready to go back into the closet to sharpen my knife."

On another occasion, the user suggested that they put pictures of Elon Musk and "Comrade Amanda," a possible reference to Amanda Scales, the new chief of staff at the OPM, on a boxing bag "so I can punch the s*** out of their f***ing f*** faces."

Lawsuits, not Reddit fantasies

When asked about the prospect of another "resistance" and presented with some of the suggestions on r/fednews, Donald Devine, who helped cut 100,000 bureaucratic jobs while at the OPM and co-authored the Project 2025 "Mandate for Leadership" chapter on how to manage the bureaucracy, told Blaze News, "It is nothing new and Reagan faced as much and kept up the pressure."

"Most administrations give in too easily. Trump, Musk, [Office of Management and Budget Director Russell] Vought, the agency heads and the rest are proving they are the exception so far," added Devine.

Devine indicated that the greatest challenges in the weeks and the months ahead will be for the administration to "keep up the initial pressure," adding that the "unions are the biggest problem and they need a plan to confront them."

Thousands of bureaucrats have rushed to join the American Federation of Government Employees and other unions in recent weeks with the hope of securing some modicum of protection against accountability. Brimming with new members, the AFGE and other unions have filed lawsuits, trying to hamstring the Trump administration's efficiency push and corresponding policies.

In fact, the AFGE was among the unions whose lawsuit prompted U.S. District Judge George O'Toole Jr.'s restraining order against the federal buyout.

'Such behavior undermines democracy, as it enables government power to be wielded without accountability.'

Harrison Fields, White House principal deputy press secretary, said in a statement to Blaze News, "Slashing waste, fraud, and abuse, and becoming better stewards of the American taxpayer's hard-earned dollars might be a crime to Democrats, but it's not a crime in a court of law."

While the Trump administration has its fair share of court battles to fight, it continues to press forward on other fronts.

The OPM formally submitted draft regulations on Monday that will reportedly make it easier to can bureaucrats who push back against presidential orders.

"It is well documented that many career federal employees use their positions to advance their personal political or policy preferences instead of implementing the elected President’s agenda," said a copy of the draft text obtained by Politico. "Such behavior undermines democracy, as it enables government power to be wielded without accountability to the voters or their elected representatives."

The draft regulation would reportedly also strike at the heart of former President Joe Biden's efforts to shield deep-staters from losing their civil service protections should their positions be switched to an exempt category.

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'Have a nice vacation': Trump offers millions of federal bureaucrats a buyout to get rid of them



When it comes to shrinking the size of the federal bureaucracy, President Donald Trump evidently means business. The White House issued a memo Tuesday offering buyouts to millions of federal workers in an effort to expedite the downsizing process and to ultimately save American taxpayers oodles of cash.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management revealed Tuesday in a post titled "Fork in the Road" that an email was sent to all eligible full-time federal employees presenting them with a choice. They could either remain in their current position, meeting enhanced standards of conduct and working in their physical offices five days a week without any "certainty of their position or agency," or they could alternatively opt for a "dignified, fair departure from the federal government utilizing a deferred resignation program."

"The federal workforce is expected to undergo significant near-term changes," noted the OPM. "As a result of these changes (or for other reasons), you may wish to depart the federal government on terms that provide you with sufficient time and economic security to plan for your future — and have a nice vacation."

Federal workers who choose the second option will be able to retain all pay and benefits and will be exempted from in-person work requirements until Sept. 30, 2025.

The OPM email indicated that those bureaucrats looking to depart need only reply from their government account, "type the word 'Resign' into the body of this reply email," and "hit 'send.'"

The buyout agreement requires that outgoing bureaucrats assist their employing agencies with "completing reasonable and customary tasks and processes" to facilitate their departure.

Federal workers have until Feb. 6 to opt into the eight-month severance package. Military personnel, employees of the U.S. Postal Service, and those in positions related to immigration enforcement and national security are ineligible.

A senior official in the Trump administration told NBC News that between 5% and 10% of the federal workforce is expected to quit, which could result in an estimated $100 billion in savings.

'If they don't want to work in the office and contribute to making America great again, then they are free to choose a different line of work.'

Of course, many more bureaucrats may soon be kicked to the curb, in part due to Trump's reinstatement of his previous policy establishing the Schedule F employment category for federal employees, which makes it easier to remove insubordinate and useless bureaucrats from an estimated pool of 50,000 eligible candidates.

"I will wield that power very aggressively," Trump vowed in a March 2023 video. "We will clean out all of the corrupt actors in our national security and intelligence apparatus, and there are plenty of them."

Other federal workers may also end up hitting the bricks following the Trump administration's planned restructurings, realignments, and reductions in force.

"American taxpayers pay for the salaries of federal government employees, and therefore deserve employees working on their behalf who actually show up to work in our wonderful federal buildings, also paid for by taxpayers," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. "If they don't want to work in the office and contribute to making America great again, then they are free to choose a different line of work, and the Trump administration will provide a very generous payout of eight months."

Everett Kelley, president of American Federation of Government Employees, condemned the buyouts, stating, "Purging the federal government of dedicated career civil servants will have vast, unintended consequences that will cause chaos for the Americans who depend on a functioning federal government."

"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," added Kelley.

Leavitt rejected the suggestion that the house cleaning is a "purge," telling reporters in Washington, D.C., Wednesday, "Six percent of the federal workforce in this city actually shows up to work. That's unacceptable. We're all here at work at the office. There are law enforcement officers and teachers, and nurses across the country who showed up to the office today. People in this city need to do the same."

The Verge highlighted that the buyout offer not only resembled Elon Musk's Nov. 16, 2022, ultimatum letter to then-Twitter employees but had the same subject line, "Fork in the Road." Musk's companywide email told employees they could either commit to working "long hours at high intensity" or opt to receive "three months of severance."

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'Their days are numbered': Federal bureaucrats are panicking over Trump win — especially at DOJ and FBI



Employees at the Biden-Harris Department of Justice and their fellow travelers at the FBI are apparently "shell-shocked" and updating their resumes following President-elect Donald Trump's landslide electoral victory.

Federal bureaucrats' apparent fears of a thorough housecleaning are justified, as Trump has made no secret of his plan to "shatter the Deep State and restore government that is controlled by the People."

Background

In March 2023, Trump announced that on day one, he would reissue his 2020 executive order establishing the Schedule F employment category for federal employees, making it easier to remove insubordinate and poorly performing bureaucrats from an estimated pool of 50,000 eligible candidates.

"I will wield that power aggressively," Trump vowed.

President Joe Biden revoked Trump's Schedule F in January 2021 and announced a rule earlier this year aimed at further shielding federal bureaucrats from accountability and from being ousted under a framework resembling Schedule F.

'They're getting the hell out of dodge.'

Reversing this rule might take months and involve legal challenges. Nevertheless, Trump appears committed to ensuring that America's democratically elected president will once again "have appropriate management oversight regarding this select cadre of professionals."

Trump also vowed in his 10-point plan to "clean out all of the corrupt actors in our national security and intelligence apparatus."

"The departments and agencies that have been weaponized will be completely overhauled so that faceless bureaucrats will never again be able to target and persecute conservatives, Christians, or the left's political enemies, which they're doing now at a level that nobody can believe even possible," said Trump.

Since detailing his cleanup program last year, Trump has brought on Elon Musk to lead a federal efficiency initiative, which might reinforce the cleanup of deadwood at the Justice Department and its well-armed offshoot.

Reaping the whirlwind

Blaze News investigative journalist Steve Baker said that bureaucrats at the DOJ and the FBI are right to panic, not only because a "reshuffling of the deck is normal" but because Trump is poised to make good on his pledge to personify and deliver "retribution" for those Americans wronged by what has become an increasingly politicized justice system.

"We know that this panic is happening at the assistant U.S. attorney level and at the U.S. attorney level. These guys are already planning their exits," said Baker. "They know that their days are numbered. They are looking for their golden parachutes into the big, high-power law firms. They're getting the hell out of dodge."

FBI employees are expecting a similar shake-up and pre-emptive exodus.

Several anonymous bureau sources recently told the Washington Times that the top brass at the FBI were "stunned" and "shell-shocked" by Kamala Harris' humiliating electoral defeat.

The insiders, convinced that the president-elect will "smash the place to pieces when he gets in," suggested that no one at the supervisory special agent pay grade (GS-14) or higher is safe from losing their jobs, especially not Director Christopher Wray.

"It's a countdown for Wray because [people here] don't think he will stay to get fired after what Trump did to Comey," said one FBI source. "Trump will say, 'Yeah, fire his ass. Don't let him take the plane home.'"

Trump appointed Wray in 2017. While the director's term is not set to expire for another three years, the president-elect could put him out to pasture.

'Everyone's going to have a real problem when they're running for the door.'

FBI employees are apparently also wary about Musk's efficiency commission.

One source told the Times, "When [Musk] tries to do efficiency at headquarters, the place is going to have five people."

"Try to find a person that's actually working," continued the source. "That may be the biggest problem there — that there's no efficiency. So that's actually the bigger threat. If you're going to try to make the government efficient, you would start with the FBI, because if you do politics all the time, you're probably bloated."

Another source suggested to the Times that some FBI employees who have grown tired of the Jan. 6 witch hunt are amused over the prospect that Trump will liberally issue pardons, nullifying their efforts.

While the promise of pardons has apparently amused some bureaucrats, it hasn't slowed down Democratic elements of the judiciary.

Baker, whose pretrial hearing regarding his Jan. 6 misdemeanor charges is scheduled for Tuesday, told Blaze News that despite the understanding that Trump will ultimately pardon nonviolent Jan. 6 protesters, D.C. courts are continuing to waste time and taxpayer funds pursuing his and similar cases.

"They are going forward with the process no matter what, when they should be hitting the pause button," said Baker.

While the president-elect currently lacks authority, Baker suggested that "he should at least issue a public statement and say, 'I'm telling you, DOJ, I'm telling you, FBI, I'm telling you, judges of the D.C. District Court: You're wasting your time. You're wasting the people's time. And you're wasting the people's money going through this process because I'm going to put a stop to this on the day of or day following my inauguration.' He could at least send a signal."

Baker suggested that such a statement may not get through to those blinded by hatred and committed to crushing Jan. 6 protesters, but it might resonate with those persons in the District of Columbia still equipped with common sense.

In the meantime, it appears that FBI employees are getting ready for a change of employment.

"You know the fit test? How they let the standards slack on the fit test?" one FBI source told the Times, referencing the bureau's physical fitness requirements. "Everyone's going to have a real problem when they're running for the door."

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Bureaucrats discuss ditching 'greatest good' for equity in FEMA disaster-planning meeting



The Federal Emergency Management Agency is a Department of Homeland Security outfit tasked with stabilizing and assisting communities after a disaster. In the wake of Hurricane Helene, the Biden-Harris agency has come up short, leaving some hard-hit communities to pick up the pieces all alone.

Critics have reviewed possible political factors that may have undermined the agency and its ability to adequately respond to this deadly disaster. After all, the FEMA website indicates the agency's top strategic goal is to "instill equity as a foundation of emergency management" — signaling a possible subordination of utility to ideology.

The X account End Wokeness shared a video Sunday from a March 2023 disaster preparedness meeting indicating ideology has indeed infected FEMA's core considerations.

FEMA emergency management specialist Tyler Atkins — a manager of the Office of Resilience's "Resilient & Ready Seminar Series" who refers to himself as "they" — notes at the outset of the viral video that "LGBTQIA people and people who have been disadvantaged already are struggling. They already have their own things to deal with so you add a disaster on top of that, it's just compounding on itself."

"And I think that is maybe the 'why' of why we're having these discussions," added Atkins, referencing the broader topic of preparedness and mitigation considerations specific to non-straights.

A woman identified on-screen as Maggie Jarry, a senior emergency management specialist at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said, "There are a couple of things intersecting in my mind here. One is the culture of emergency management as an organization, as an industry in the United States specifically, not abroad."

After taking a moment to excuse her cat's interruptions, Jarry noted, "The shift that we're seeing right now is a shift in emergency management from utilitarian principles — where everything is designed for the greatest good, for the greatest amount of people — to disaster equity."

The apparent federal push away from helping the greatest number of Americans to prioritizing help for specific types of favored Americans was driven by the Biden-Harris administration, particularly by President Joe Biden's June 25, 2021, DEI executive order.

According to FEMA:

Underserved communities, as well as specific identity groups, often suffer disproportionately from disasters. As a result, disasters worsen inequities already present in society. This cycle compounds the challenges faced by these communities and increases their risk to future disasters. By instilling equity as a foundation of emergency management and striving to meet the unique needs of underserved communities, the emergency management community can work to break this cycle and build a more resilient nation.

The agency added, "Proactively prioritizing actions that advance equity for communities and identifying groups that have historically been underserved or disproportionately affected by disasters is critical for their resilience."

Disasters and crises, therefore, present federal bureaucrats with opportunities to refashion the country — in their view — into something more equitable.

According to FEMA's 2022-2026 strategic plan, "Diversity, equity, and inclusion cannot be optional; they must be core components of how the agency conducts itself internally and executes its mission."

This apparent obsession with groups' immutable characteristics and sexual preferences would explain why in the same disaster preparedness meeting, Reilly Hirst, a financial management specialist at FEMA, spent time concern-mongering about the possibility that illegal alien transvestites — those for whom Kamala Harris would have taxpayers fund sex changes — might be misgendered in shelters.

Responding to the video, Elon Musk wrote, "Saving American lives should be priority #1."

One user noted, "DEI ideology is a societal scourge."

FEMA is presently working hard to combat what its chief Deanne Criswell has characterized as "dangerous narrative[s]" regarding its bungled hurricane response. It's presently unclear whether it will be similarly vigorous when preparing for and responding to Hurricane Milton, now headed for Florida.

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