At the end of January, President Donald Trump -- fulfilling his campaign promise to trim the fat of federal government -- offered two million federal workers a buyout to quit their jobs for other fields. Unsurprisingly, Leftists filed suit, and a judge temporarily blocked the buyout offer.
Democrats are very vocal in their opposition to this plan, with Sen. Tim Kaine warning federal employees Trump would 'stiff' them (like the Biden-Harris administration did to the people of Western North Carolina and Trump voters affected by hurricanes, Tim?)
Yesterday, the federal judge that blocked the offer ruled the administration can go ahead with the plan.
A federal judge in Massachusetts has allowed the Trump administration's plan to offer federal workers "deferred resignations" to continue, lifting a previous court order temporarily pausing the program's deadline. https://t.co/7K43rJZiui
— CBS News (@CBSNews) February 13, 2025
Under the OPM's offer, employees who accepted it would continue getting paid through September but would be excused from reporting for workers. But if they opted to keep their jobs, they could get fired.
That decision, one affecting the careers and livelihoods of 2.3 million civilian federal employees, is a fraught one, employment attorneys and government watchdogs said. In part, that's because the offer includes a number of provisions that are unclear and not guaranteed, posing financial and professional risks while leaving workers in danger of not getting what they signed up for, experts told CBS MoneyWatch.
Ah, experts. When have they ever led us wrong?
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The American Civil Liberties Union (which is not really about civil liberties or America these days) is going to bat for federal workers, of course:
ACLU: “Not only would such mass layoffs violate federal law, but this action would undermine the important and historic check that the career civil service has had on curbing abuses by the executive branch.”
— Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) February 13, 2025
When people talk about a “Deep State”, this is part of what they mean… pic.twitter.com/dW4XH2H0RK
The federal workforce should serve at the pleasure of the president and on behalf of the American people. It is not meant to be an ingrained resistance force that throws wrenches into the workings of a Republican administration.
Part of the blame for this lies with Congress, who have -- for far too many years and across administrations of both parties -- delegated rule-making to those faceless, unelected bureaucrats even when they actually pass legislation.
'The Secretary shall...' and all that.
Congress needs to have the spine to pass clear legislation with clear rules instead of giving massive amounts of power and authority to various government agencies.
We've been treated to a lot of hysteria from the Left about how wrong it is an 'unelected' man like Elon Musk has so much influence on the President. This ignores the fact no voter was unaware of the relationship between Trump and Musk prior to the election; Trump made it very clear Musk was going to start DOGE and do exactly what he's doing. This is what we voted for, and it's why 70% of poll respondents said they believe Trump is keeping his campaign promises.
But I can name Elon Musk. I know the names of the DOGE workers who are pouring through lines of federal spending.
There are 2.3 million employees who we don't know and didn't elect. So spare me the talk about 'unelected' people making decisions.
I have to hand it to the ACLU for saying the quiet part out loud: the 2.3 million unelected bureaucrats in the federal government are the Fourth Branch.
Tell me more about the so-called Constitutional crisis, Democrats.
These workers are neither the Legislative nor Executive branch, and they are certainly not the Judicial branch.
They do not get to undermine or overrule legislation or Executive Orders simply because they don't like them.
You'll be not shocked to learn the vast majority of these government employees are Democrats.
"Federal election records show that USAID personnel contributed $240,000 to the Kamala Harris campaign in the 2024 election cycle and just $999 to Mr. [Donald] Trump. Of USAID’s top 20 funded candidates, just one was a Republican," @RoScarborough explains https://t.co/ailn7YCc8h
— Washington Times Opinion (@WashTimesOpEd) February 13, 2025
So these government employees are taking our tax dollars and funneling it back to Democrats so those Democrats can be elected and reelected to office and the cycle can continue.
As I noted here, this is all part of the Left's political machine, a way to hold onto power even when they're not the ruling party and a way to hit the ground running when they do get control.
And now the ACLU admits they're the unconstitutional, obstructive Fourth Branch of government. A body that operates outside of -- and sometimes in direct opposition to -- Congress, the White House, and the Courts.
For a variety of reasons, this cannot continue, and Donald Trump needs to prune that Fourth Branch from the tree of government for good.
