Week 11 saw Trump’s attack on the free press, our country’s economy and ability to fight diseases and find cures. But the American people pushed back against his attacks in four elections.
The election results in Wisconsin and Florida served as a warning sign for Donald Trump’s extreme agenda and attack on our democracy. Despite Trump’s endorsement and billionaire Elon Musk’s 20 million dollar war chest in support of a Republican candidate for the state Supreme Court, people in Wisconsin elected a Democratic-backed judge by a big margin. Another Democratic-backed candidate also won a race for the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Even though Republican candidates won in two special congressional elections in Trump’s strongholds in Florida, the margins were much narrower than they were when Trump won in November. Trump’s loss is on top of another defeat the week before when people in Pennsylvania flipped the Senate seat held by a Republican in a district that Trump won by 15 points last year.
From Sen. Cory Booker’s record breaking 25-hours plus speech criticizing Trump’s extreme agenda to a new bill introduced by a bipartisan group of lawmakers to nullify Trump’s directive stripping federal workers of collective bargaining rights, Week 11 also saw a stronger push back against Trump in Congress. Besides the illegal EO, Trump sued AFGE to end union contracts.
Here’s a quick recap of Trump’s attacks in his 11th week in office and how these actions hurt federal workers and the American people they serve.
April 2: Trump announced he will impose a 10% tariff on imports from all countries with an additional import tax on 60 countries. He will also slap a 20% tariff on the European Union and a 34% tariff on China. This escalation of the trade war caused global markets to fall as recession fears grow. The higher tariffs also mean American consumers will pay more for everyday items.
April 2: Trump told inner circles Musk is leaving the government soon after it became increasingly clear that he’s a political liability punctuated by an election loss in Wisconsin. Musk’s companies including Tesla are also facing a backlash from consumers and the public angry at his unpopular cuts to the government and political involvement with the Trump White House. A new poll shows a majority of voters dislike him.
April 2: A judge indefinitely extended his order blocking the Trump administration from firing probationary employees – although he narrowed the scope of his order to 19 states and Washington, D.C.
April 1: Trump began firing 10,000 scientists, researchers, and other employees working for health agencies under the Department of Health and Human Services, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Trump’s action will harm the American people as it hurts our country’s ability to track and find cures for diseases.
April 1: Trump removed the FDA’s tobacco director in his continued effort to eviscerate the FDA’s ability to regulate dangerous substances.
April 1: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told the Naval Academy to remove from its library nearly 400 books that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion.
April 1: People in Wisconsin spoke loud and clear that “Our courts are not for sale” and elected Democratic-backed judge Susan Crawford for the state Supreme Court, defeating billionaire Elon Musk and his efforts to influence the election. Musk gave away millions of dollars to supporters and poured $21 million into the race in support of Republican candidate Brad Schimel. Another win for democracy and public schools also took place in Wisconsin as Jill Underly won the race for Superintendent of Public Instruction, which helps oversee the state’s public schools. Meanwhile in Florida, Republicans won special elections in two congressional districts that are considered Trump country but with much narrower margins that Trump won last year.
April 1: A group of bipartisan members of Congress introduced a bill that would nullify Trump’s executive order that would strip more than a million federal workers of their collective bargaining rights under the guise of national security.
March 31: Trump continued to fire career prosecutors at the Justice Department in another violation of civil service protections. One of the lawyers fired was singled out by a right-wing activist in a media post for criticizing Trump.
March 31: The White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) pushed back against Trump’s effort to seize control of the seating arrangements in the press briefing room, an apparent attack on free press and our First Amendment.
“The reason the White House wants control of the briefing room is the same reason they took control of the pool: to exert pressure on journalists over coverage they disagree with. This was explicit with The Associated Press, where the president and his staff plainly said their removal from covering presidential events was punishment for their style guide. And their motives here are explicit again,” said the organization.
AFGE has partnered with other labor unions and allied organizations to form Rise Up: Federal Workers Legal Defense Network.
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AFGE and other AFL-CIO and unions representing workers across private and public sector industries sued the Trump administration over its dismantling of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.
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Week 13 saw Trump ignoring the Supreme Court’s order, intimidating lawmakers, threatening universities, and floating the idea of sending U.S. citizens to foreign prisons.
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