Trump’s Battle Against Federal Workers: Court Challenges Stall Spending Cuts and Job Cuts

Lisa Desjardins:

There’s a lot happening in the news today.

First up, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has fired about 6,000 probationary workers. This decision comes from an agency called the Merit Systems Protection Board, which isn’t often in the spotlight.

In a recent ruling, the chair of this board stated that the USDA may have acted unlawfully in terminating these probationary employees. These workers had been on the job for less than a year and received similar dismissal letters. The ruling highlighted that mass firings like this are against U.S. law.

But the situation doesn’t stop with the USDA. The General Services Administration (GSA) has also let go of around 600 workers. Meanwhile, thousands of employees at the Department of Education are anxiously waiting to learn if they will be fired.

If we add up all the firings, including the 6,000 that have been told to return to work, there are still about 31,000 people affected by these job losses.

On a different note, there was a development regarding former President Trump. Last night, a court decided that a special counsel, Hampton Dellinger, cannot go back to his role. He has chosen not to appeal, as he believes it would take too long. This means he will no longer serve in that important watchdog position.