Week 15 saw Trump making America weaker on every front as he marked 100 days in office.
In just 100 days, Trump’s bad decisions and incompetence have severely damaged America’s economy, democracy, civil rights, workers’ rights, public health, education, rule of law, retirement security, and our standing in the world.
Instead of creating jobs, he destroyed them. Instead of recruiting experts to help move our country forward, he fired them. In just three months, he has laid off or targeted for layoffs 121,000 of these experts and dedicated federal employees working to find a cure to diseases, protect public health, and generally improve the lives of the American people.
What’s more? He targeted unions for extinction, crashed the stock market, gutted environmental and food safety regulations, ignored court orders, attacked judges, turned allies against us, and generally made Americans poorer, sicker, and less safe. The American people took notice and gave him an F for his first 100 days.
The only entities that are happy with him appear to be his corporate donors as Trump proved to be soft on corporate crimes. In his first two months in office, he either dropped or stopped investigations against over 100 corporations, many of whom are his donors and allies. In fact, 58 corporations facing federal investigations and lawsuits collectively gave $50 million to Trump’s inaugural fund.
Here’s a quick recap of Trump’s attacks on America in his 15th week in office, how these actions hurt federal workers and the American people they serve, and how We the People fight back:
May 1: As the American people chased Elon Musk out of Washington, Trump turned to his allies in Congress to finish the job. House Republicans introduced and advanced several proposals targeting federal workers and due process rights. One, for example, would charge federal employees a $350 fee if they file a grievance of discrimination, political retaliation, or workplace abuse with the Merit Systems Protection Board – a levy intended to discourage employees from pursuing such charges.
May 1: Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets on May Day to protest Trump’s policies and his authoritarian regime. More than 1,000 protests took place across the country, including ones organized by lawyers at courthouses to speak out against Trump’s attacks on the rule of law that “threaten the very foundation of fairness and equal justice.”
In Philadelphia, AFGE and other unions joined Sen. Bernie Sanders’ For the Workers, Not the Billionaires May Day Rally.
In Washington, D.C., Paul Osadebe, AFGE Local 476 shop steward representing Housing and Urban Development (HUD) employees, drew huge applause when he explained why it’s important to organize and empower federal workers to serve the American people.
April 30: Trump doesn’t hate bureaucracy after all as he keeps adding on to it. His Federal Election Commission will soon require its employees to submit their daily work location. Are daily selfies next?
April 29: Trump told federal agencies they have until May 16 to report on how they plan to implement new requirements that make it more difficult for probationary employees to gain full employment status and job protections.
April 29: Trump’s Department of Defense ended the Women, Peace and Security program that sought to advance women’s participation in peace-building and conflict prevention, the job that their male counterparts may not be able to do especially overseas for cultural and religious reasons. The program was created by Republican lawmakers and signed into law in 2017 by Trump. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth boasted that he was proud to have ended it.
April 29: Facing a public backlash, Trump reinstated some of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) workers who screen coal miners for black lung disease. But according to AFGE Local 3430 that represents workers in West Virginia, the reinstatement is temporary as they will still be fired via reduction in force. Bad news for coal miners and their families.
April 29: A federal judge said Trump’s executive order stripping collective bargaining rights from two thirds of the federal workforce on national security grounds was pretext for retaliation against unions for fighting his workplace policies. U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman’s finding explained his April 25 ruling blocking the Trump administration from striping these workers of their collective bargaining rights.
April 29: D.C. and 24 states sued Trump to block him from dismantling AmeriCorps, an agency created by Congress that has sent volunteers to serve in communities across the country, including disaster projects like Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Helene.
April 29: A federal judge ordered Trump to restore $12 million Congress appropriated for Radio Free Europe, a pro-democracy news outlet broadcasting in 23 countries including Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, Russia, and Ukraine.
April 28: AFGE and allies sued Trump’s unconstitutional reorganization of government and massive reduction in force. On May Day, we also filed a motion for a temporary restraining order that would halt the unlawful reorganization of the federal workforce.
April 28: Trump fired more than 400 experts who were working on the next climate assessment report. This will hurt the American people as the report looks at the way climate change is affecting our country and what cities, states, farmers, businesses and others could do to prepare.
In a major victory for AFGE and allies, a district court judge May 9 issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) blocking President Trump’s unconstitutional reorganization of the federal government.
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House Republicans are pursuing at least $50 billion in cuts to Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS) benefits to help pay for a $4.5 trillion package of tax cuts that would primarily benefit the rich and large corporations, a priority for President Trump.
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Week 16 saw Trump laying off thousands of workers at Interior and Labor and planning to let go 80,000 VA employees taking care of veterans.
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