Federal workers face era of uncertainty amid Trump's vow to slash the U.S. government

Record ID: 1857078

  • Title: Federal workers face era of uncertainty amid Trump's vow to slash the U.S. government
  • Date: 19th November 2024
  • Summary: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (NOVEMBER 14, 2024) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) STEVE LENKART, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF FEDERAL EMPLOYEES, SAYING: "Elon Musk has no experience in government. I think he's lived a fairly unrestrained life and he's going to come into a role and be given, I assume carte blanche to make all kinds of suggestions and maybe actual changes. We'll see what kind of authority he has, but I think it's going to be a hard learning curve for him to understand that you know a president isn't a king, or at least is not supposed to be in this country, and that you're going to run against constitutional issues, you're going to run up against the law, you're going to run up against mandates of Congress. You know, Congress is the only authority that's able to release money from the Treasury. And they have the right to oversee how that money is used by the executive branch, including, you know, pulling the money back and directing the executive branch when they need so." WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (NOVEMBER 15, 2024) (REUTERS) WORKERS COMING OUT OF METRO AND WALKING INTO FEDERAL OFFICES FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES (NOVEMBER 15, 2024) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) MICHAEL KNOWLES, PRESIDENT, AFGE LOCAL 1924 REPRESENTING EMPLOYEES OF U.S. CTIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES, SAYING: "Now people are nervous about that. They're nervous about talk of a return to what was known as Schedule F or other policies like that that would make it easier for any administration to remove federal employees for real or perceived issues of loyalty to the administration, people are concerned about the erosion of their civil service protections." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (English) MICHAEL KNOWLES, PRESIDENT, AFGE LOCAL 1924 REPRESENTING EMPLOYEES OF U.S. CTIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES, SAYING: "There was a right wing organization that published names of USCIS [Citizenship & Immigration Services] officials in recent weeks, suggesting that you know their loyalty was in question and that was very disturbing to the workforce." WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (NOVEMBER 15, 2024) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF TRAFFIC DRIVING PAST FEDERAL BUILDINGS FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES (NOVEMBER 15, 2024) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) MICHAEL KNOWLES, PRESIDENT, AFGE LOCAL 1924 REPRESENTING EMPLOYEES OF U.S. CTIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES, SAYING: "And to cause any official, whether they're a senior manager or mid level manager or rank and file employee, to be fearful for their livelihood, because of their political opinion or their perceived loyalty or disloyalty to a particular political party opens the door to inefficiency, cronyism, filling the ranks with people who don't have the experience or expertise to do the job." WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (NOVEMBER 15, 2024) (REUTERS) WORKER WALKING WHILE LOOKING AT PHONE U.S. FLAG WAVING ATOP FLAGPOST ON TOP OF BUILDING FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES (NOVEMBER 15, 2024) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) MICHAEL KNOWLES, PRESIDENT, AFGE LOCAL 1924 REPRESENTING EMPLOYEES OF U.S. CTIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES, SAYING: "It's a mystery to us, you know, what actually is intended, but it's quite alarming to hear of entire government agencies being shut down or workforces being trimmed so drastically as those individuals have proclaimed." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (English) MICHAEL KNOWLES, PRESIDENT, AFGE LOCAL 1924 REPRESENTING EMPLOYEES OF U.S. CTIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES, SAYING: "But morale has taken a huge hit. When we hear political candidates, we hear members of Congress, we hear figures in the incoming administration denigrating and downplaying the value of what we do as civil servants and questioning our loyalty, our commitment to the Constitution and the law of the United States. Our workers are very resilient. They're very courageous. They have a tremendous work ethic. But morale takes a big hit when your loyalty is questioned for no good reason." WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (NOVEMBER 15, 2024) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY BUILDING IN WASHINGTON SIGN READING DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY OUTSIDE BUILDING PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, UNITED STATES (NOVEMBER 15, 2024) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) LILAS SOUKUP, PRESIDENT, AFGE LOCAL REPRESENTING MEMBERS AT THE DEPT. OF ENERGY, SAYING: "So I don't think that everyone really fully understands the pieces of the puzzle that the federal employees actually affect in their day-to-day lives that could be affected by either changes, elimination or reduction in services or policies and procedures on the regulatory side." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (English) LILAS SOUKUP, PRESIDENT, AFGE LOCAL REPRESENTING MEMBERS AT THE DEPT. OF ENERGY, SAYING: "A lot of the employees are just nervous based on not really knowing really what the true reactions are going to be or what's going to be imposed across the federal government. This time you're a little bit more nervous because things are moving a lot faster. Appointments or nominations are already being put out. During the previous administration. It took a little longer, you know, to go out there." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (English) LILAS SOUKUP, PRESIDENT, AFGE LOCAL REPRESENTING MEMBERS AT THE DEPT. OF ENERGY, SAYING: "There's a lot of things that people are a little bit nervous about as, as again when you start thinking about, OK, well, where do I go next or should I buy a car? Should I not buy a car? Should I do that home remodeling or not? Depending on, OK, what is my financial base going to look like? You know, within the upcoming next four or five years, for instance. So that's where I think some of the nervousness and uneasiness also is coming from." WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (NOVEMBER 15, 2024) (REUTERS) TRAFFIC ON STREETS OF WASHINGTON WITH CAPITOL DOME IN BACKGROUND
  • Embargoed: 3rd December 2024 10:58
  • Keywords: Donald Trump Downsizing Elon Musk Federal employees Schedule F Vivek Ramaswamy
  • Location: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES
  • City: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES
  • Country: US
  • Topics: North America,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA003984914112024RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:The US's over two-million strong civilian federal workforce is facing a new era of uncertainty amid promises from incoming president Donald Trump and Elon Musk to slash government employees and cut costs.
    Federal employee unions are lining up lawyers and preparing public campaigns to try to stave off any mass firings, and they're hoping Republican Congress members will join Democrats in recognizing their importance to local economies, health and safety, union members and government watchdogs tell Reuters.
    "You know, Congress is the only authority that's able to release money from the Treasury." said Steve Lenkart, executive director of the National Federation of Federal Employees, which represents over 100,000 federal employees. "And they have the right to oversee how that money is used by the executive branch, including, you know, pulling the money back and directing the executive branch when they need so," he said.
    Trump has tasked Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to head a panel to streamline the U.S. government and is expected to revive a plan to convert some federal employees to "Schedule F" status which strips them of job protections. Musk has said he could cut $2 trillion in spending, more than the annual discretionary budget.
    Because the U.S. Congress sets federal spending levels, Republicans could balk at any erosion of their power, some say. Trump, Musk and Ramaswamy are "going to run up against Congressional mandates and run up against the Constitution," Lenkart added.
    The U.S. government is the country's largest employer. While workers are concentrated in the U.S. capital of Washington, D.C. and nearby northern Virginia, federal agencies also account for a significant portion of overall employment in some districts in Texas, Ohio and other Republican-led U.S. states, a September Congressional Research Service report shows.
    The government efficiency panel's advisory role means it may have limited power, some unions say.
    "It's unclear what kind of authority it would have or what sort of legal oversight it would have," said Michael Knowles, a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) employee who is president of the Washington region chapter of the American Federation of Government Employees union, which represents 750,000 federal workers.
    Many federal agencies, including USCIS, which has a massive backlog of asylum cases, actually have fewer employees than they need to run efficiently, he said.
    A rule that President Joe Biden introduced in April to bolster protections for government employees could slow down any plans to slash employees, he said.
    Last year, two judges on the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals wrote that a president should have broad powers to fire government workers.
    Whether there are Republicans in Congress willing to oppose Trump on the issue of remains to be seen.
    The uncertainty is already making some employees hesitant about major investments that could impact the local economy, said Lilas Soukup, president of an AFGE local that represents workers from the Centers for Disease Control and the Department of Energy.
    Workers are wondering "Should I not buy a car? Should I do that home remodeling or not, depending on, okay, what is my financial basis going to look like, you know, within the upcoming next 4 or 5 years, for instance?," Soukup said.
    (Production- Tom Rowe/ Gershon Peaks)
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