AFGE has launched a new series, Chaos and Corruption Weekly Digest, to document chaos, corruption, and efforts to dismantle our democratic institutions by the Trump administration.
Week 5 was full of chaos, disruptions, lives destroyed. From mass firings of probationary federal workers governmentwide, including FAA employees, nuclear weapon security workers, and bird flu officials (and the administration’s scramble to rehire some of them back) to a demeaning email sent to all federal employees demanding that they state what they did the past week or risk termination, Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s jihad against federal workers has no sign of stopping.
Their attacks against the federal workforce have raised concerns over national security and public safety as hundreds of workers at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) have been let go while thousands at the Department of Defense are expected to get their notices soon.
These attacks also raise concerns about conflicts of interest as many of the agencies that became early targets of Musk and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are investigating his companies.
To federal workers being laid off, nobody stole their jobs and wrecked their lives but the president and the world’s richest man. While these middle-class Americans were trying to figure out how to support their families and make ends meet, the president was enjoying his trips to the Super Bowl and Daytona 500, a strategy some believe was designed to distract Americans from the real problems they are facing, like high costs of living and unpopular policies. So where is America’s Golden Age? We’ve seen only people losing jobs and plane crashes.
The American Bar Association recently issued a statement saying that many of the Trump administration’s actions are “contrary to the rule of law.”
Here’s a quick recap of Trump’s attacks in his 5th week in office and how these actions hurt federal workers and the American people they serve.
President’s Day weekend: Trump and Musk fired about 400 Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) employees amid concerns about aviation safety following a series of plane crashes and an alarming number of near misses. Those fired over the weekend directly supported safety inspectors and airport operations. They were aviation safety assistants who do the paperwork so inspectors can focus on the airplane, maintenance mechanics who repair air traffic control facilities, and nautical aviation specialists who update digital maps used by pilots.
FAA, which has suffered staffing shortages for years, is the agency that regulates Musk’s company Space X, which has been ordered by the FAA to conduct a “mishap investigation” following a rocket explosion that affected dozens of flights due to dangerous debris. FAA last year also proposed a fine against Space X for alleged licensing and safety violations.
President’s Day weekend: Social Security Acting Commissioner Michelle King resigned after refusing to provide DOGE with access to Social Security recipient information such as Social Security numbers, dates of birth, bank information, and earning records.
Feb. 17: Trump’s reckless firing of 89 workers in the food division of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over the President Day’s weekend led to the resignation of its leader Jim Jones, who said the firings crippled the work they do protecting public health. The employees laid off included those with “highly technical expertise in nutrition, infant formula, food safety response.” They also reviewed unsafe ingredients in food.
Trump’s attack on the FDA will likely have consequences on America’s public health as the agency regulates about 77% of the U.S. food supply. The FDA was recently ordered by a judge to restore the webpages it had taken down following Trump’s executive order on diversity and inclusion.
Feb. 18: Trump issued an executive order proclaiming control over independent agencies, an unprecedented power grab and a gift to big corporations that will now be shieled from accountability. Congress set up these independent agencies to be removed from politics and political pressure, and some of these agencies like the FEC and SEC are investigating Musk’s companies.
The directive targets various agencies like the Federal Election Commission (FEC), which protects election integrity and enforces federal campaign finance laws; the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which oversees markets and protects investors; the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which enforces antitrust laws and protects consumers from unfair business practices; the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), which protects consumers and bans dangerous products; and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which insures bank deposits and protects consumers.
Feb. 18: Hundreds of employees at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) were fired as the country is struggling to respond to and prepare for disasters. The move will hurt disaster victims nationwide. The mass firing came after Trump put the American people at risk with the hiring freeze of firefighters.
Feb. 18: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) admitted it had mistakenly fired workers involved in protecting Americans against the bird flu outbreak as part of its reckless mass firings. The agency is now trying to rehire them back. The bird flu outbreak has sent egg prices soaring in addition to economic losses in the poultry industry. It has since spread to dairy cattle, raising concerns about dairy products.
Trump has fired thousands of probationary employees at the USDA the past two weeks, including those at the National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA), the Economic Research Service (ERS), and the Agricultural Research Service (ARS). This will hurt our economy and food supplies as these employees worked to protect farmlands from diseases, improve farming practices, and reduce emissions, among other things.
Feb. 18: A federal judge reinstated Merit Systems Protection Board Chair Cathy Harris, who had been fired by Trump. The judge determined that Trump exceeded his authority in firing Harris, who can only be removed “for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.”
Feb. 19: Trump referred to himself as a king as he tried to kill congestion pricing in New York. “CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!” Trump posted on his platform Truth Social, reflecting his expansive views of his presidential power.
Feb. 20: Trump fired 243 probationary employees at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
“Under President Trump’s leadership, TSA terminated personnel due to performance and conduct issues during their probationary period,” a TSA spokesperson said in a statement. “The agency is actively working to implement the administration’s priorities in full cooperation with DHS to identify waste and to staff the mission essential positions that best fulfill DHS’ mission.”
Feb. 20: Trump fired more than 6,500 probationary employees at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) right before the tax season. More than 5,000 of these workers deal with auditing and collections, and their removals could hurt tax return processing, revenue collections, and efforts to go after rich tax dodgers. Trump’s Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the president’s goal is to abolish the IRS.
Feb. 20: Trump sets his sight on the Department of Defense as the agency is preparing to lay off employees. People working to protect our national security are suddenly considered excessive government spending.
Feb. 21: Trump is taking steps to dismantle the U.S. Postal Service. Ben Franklin would roll over in his grave.
Feb. 22: Musk’s OPM sent a demeaning email to all federal employees demanding that they state what they did the past week. He also wrote on X, “Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”
AFGE immediately pushed back.
“AFGE will challenge any unlawful terminations of our members and federal employees across the country,” said AFGE President Everett Kelley.
Feb. 23: Trump put U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) employees on administrative leave following a Feb. 21 court ruling denying AFGE and allies’ request for a preliminary injunction on the administration’s attempt to shut down the agency. The group vowed to continue the fight.
TSOs made enormous progress at their agency with a union contract, but the Trump administration earlier this month illegally terminated the negotiated contract with AFGE, prompting our union to file a lawsuit.
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Week 9 saw President Trump attacking our country’s last line of defense against dictatorship as he ignored a court ruling and demanded the judge’s impeachment in his latest abuse of executive power and assault on America’s rule of law.
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A federal judge March 18 ruled that Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) violated the Constitution by shutting down the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
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