This is an extremely important story that isn't getting the attention it deserves.
After GSA initiated the presidential transition, I warned that there would still be new Trump sabotage to come. This is exactly what I was concerned about.
Presidents appoint leaders of federal agencies, for instance Cabinet secretaries and their staffs, but most civil servants are career federal employees, a professional staff that provide continuity no matter which party is in power. Congress passed laws to create this system. 2/
It wasn't always this way. There was a time when an incoming president handed out government jobs to loyalists and supporters after taking office, and the civil service constantly turned over with administrations. That was terrible for the country. 3/
Congress passed the Pendleton Act in 1883 to end this practice (the "spoils system"), and over time created a permanent, professional civil service that works for the American people, not the benefit of one person.
To bypass laws enacted by Congress that protect career civil servants from being fired for political reasons, Trump issued an Executive Order just before the election creating a new classification of federal employees, "Schedule F," who can be terminated without cause. 5/
The White House ordered every agency to reclassify some of its workforce as Schedule F by January 19, 2021, the day before the Inauguration.
At the time, Trump believed he would get a second term, and planned to fire protected employees like Dr. Fauci for imagined disloyalty. 6/
But once it became clear Trump lost the election, a new goal came into view: sabotaging President-elect Biden.
Sometime in the last week, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) produced a memo which reclassified **88%** of its workers as Schedule F.
Trump now believes he can fire nearly everyone at OMB at will. More agencies are likely to follow OMB in reclassifying portions of their workforces as Schedule F soon. Trump likely hopes to replace swathes of the career federal workforce with loyalists. 8/ reuters.com/article/usa-el…
Obviously we are not taking this sitting down. Democrats in both House and Senate have filed legislation to nullify Trump's Schedule F order. 9/
The @OversightDems Committee is pursuing an investigation to track other reclassifications of workers, so that we can see where this is happening. Lawsuits have been filed, and a big fight over this is coming. 10/ federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce/2020…
Trump hopes to leave his successor with a sabotaged government amid a pandemic and economic crisis. It's contemptible and we have to stop him. 11/11
One more thing. Some of you may remember that a top public official Trump appointed to oversee the federal workforce resigned last month because he could not in good conscience cooperate with a new order from the President. He resigned over this. 12/11 washingtonpost.com/politics/trump…
Over the last year an authoritarian president and his administration unleashed a geyser of political news that also shaped coverage of the economy, global affairs, health, tech, environment, local news, and more. The Post's competitors have been successful in this environment.
At the same time, media companies and other key American institutions responded to Trump’s bullying and intimidation with appeasement. Media outlets tried to protect business interests and wealth of their billionaire owners by weakening or censoring journalism critical of Trump.
The Department of Homeland Security is murdering American citizens. Congress cannot allow that to continue, we must act.
We need a full, independent investigation into these killings. 1/
ICE, CBP and other DHS personnel must leave Minnesota and other cities where they have been sent to sow division and fear. 2/
No more occupation. No more assaults on Americans peacefully exercising their rights. No more masked agents. No more warrantless entries. No more mass arrests to fill deportation quotas. 3/
I will be voting no on the proposed continuing resolution in the U.S. House.
Republican leaders have turned their backs on Americans facing rising health care costs and refuse to address the affordability crisis their own policies created.
My statement:
The Senate’s proposed continuing resolution, which would extend current levels of government funding through January 30 while failing to address the expiration of critical health care tax credits under the Affordable Care Act that help millions of Americans afford health insurance.
1/
I have said from the beginning that my goal is to end the shutdown in a way that protects Americans from skyrocketing health care costs, and this bill fails that test.
2/
Earlier this week my constituent, Badar Khan Suri, a Georgetown postdoctoral fellow, was detained outside his Rosslyn home. He remains in detention despite not being accused of a crime, a clear violation of his constitutional rights. He must be released. beyer.house.gov/news/documents…
Mr. Suri is here lawfully and is not accused of a crime, yet he was surrounded outside the Northern Virginia home where he lives with his wife – an American citizen – and their children, arrested by masked authorities without explanation, disappeared, imprisoned, denied access to legal counsel, and had his student visa revoked.
The ‘justification’ given for these violations of Mr. Suri’s right to due process is another violation of the Constitution: a blatant attack on the First Amendment.
Mr. Suri and his family are unfortunately the latest victim of President Trump’s assault on the freedom of speech.
Trump has made no effort to disguise the fact that the arrests of academics like Suri and Mahmoud Khalil is intended to have a chilling effect and discourage the free expression of political views which Trump dislikes.
Can we talk about how awful Trump's presidency was? It can be easy to forget. Some might want to forget, but day after day there was a new crisis at the expense of the American people.
We need a reminder, so I’m breaking down some of his worst moments in this thread:
Trump collaborated with Russian efforts to interfere in our elections to help him win, lied about it, refused to endorse American intelligence confirming it, and then fired FBI Director James Comey to kill the investigation.
Just a shameless disregard for American democracy.
As President, he pressured Ukraine to interfere in our elections and then blocked Congress from obtaining key evidence in an attempt to cover it up.
This led to the House’s first impeachment of Donald Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.