How the administration has mired the US in multiple crises

Between widespread cuts to vital government agencies, various disease and illness outbreaks, and new environmental disaster vulnerabilities, the United States is facing a convergence of crises with widespread repercussions. 

Yet the Trump administration has hamstrung the federal government from addressing these crises – and in some cases is actively fanning them. Over the past year, the administration has moved to shrink the federal workforce, roll back environmental protections and policies intended to fight the climate crisis, reduced funding for scientific research and is seeking to advance legislation that would impose new voting restrictions...

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/19/how-trump-and-his-administration-have-mired-the-us-in-multiple-crises  

Trump strips job protections from 8,000 federal workers : NPR

"It creates bubbles around policymakers," he says. "If you were a career civil servant and there is bad news that you want to share with the president, you're less likely to do so if you think, 'The minute I share that bad news, I'm going to get fired.'" 

 Moynihan says this is not an abstract idea. He points to what's happened with political appointees — who lack civil service protections — who raise the president's ire: The head of the Defense Intelligence Agency was fired after the agency issued a preliminary report last year contradicting Trump's assessment that U.S. airstrikes had "completely and totally obliterated" Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities. The commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, who had previously served as a career economist in the government for more than two decades, was ridiculed and then replaced by Trump after a disappointing jobs report…

 https://www.npr.org/2026/06/03/nx-s1-5742806/trump-federal-employees-civil-service-job-protections-schedule-f

Trump administration proposes governmentwide NDAs - POLITICO

The Trump administration may ask all federal employees to sign nondisclosure agreements in order to prevent leaks to media organizations, according to a draft agreement posted by the Office of Personnel Management on Tuesday…

 https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/26/trump-administration-nda-leaks-00935965

Where was the GOP when DOGE was firing thousands of federal workers?!

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/uF5LJk8DAGk

 

Judge orders more than 1,000 Voice of America employees to be reinstated

Republican appointee rules attempts to shutter federal agency are illegal and mandates workers return by 23 March…

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/17/voice-of-america-employees-reinstated

 

Thanks for the Layoffs, Donald | Paula Poundstone

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wfjePOIwKPU

 

Doge cuts cost US taxpayers $10bn to cover workers’ paid leave, analysis finds

The Trump administration "wasted" $10bn on paid leave, or paying workers to stay home, as part of the "department of government efficiency's" assault on the federal workforce, a new analysis by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (Peer) estimates...

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/09/doge-taxpayer-costs-federal-workers

 

Trump’s EPA paid employees $86.5 million not to work for half the year - The Washington Post

The full scope of the extent of buyouts across government and the costs are substantially higher: Across the government, more than 154,000 people were paid not to work through various buyout offers this year, The Post reported in July...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/12/17/trump-epa-employees-leave/

 

Trump officials restrict top ratings for staff across federal agencies - The Washington Post

"Artificially restricting the pool of high performers also likely contravenes federal rules, Friedman said. It has always been true across government that supervisors are meant to evaluate their employees based on staffers' actual performance, she said. "So if there is a quota that they are required to follow, then they are not able to truly evaluate employees," she said… 

 …Employees said the ratings affect their annual performance bonus, their eligibility for promotion and their ability to find new jobs… 

One employee at Commerce said that there was a directive to give 70 percent of staff a 3 out of 5 rating. "It seems like part of the larger effort to make us fairly miserable," the person said."…

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/12/16/federal-agencies-performance-evaluations/

Inside Congress Live

It's a first step to overturning the president's executive orders, but the legislation still needs to clear the Senate...

https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/12/11/congress/house-passes-bill-federal-workers-bargaining-rights-00687594 

 

Airports mobilize food pantries, donation bins for unpaid federal staff - The Washington Post

During the government shutdown, TSA officers and air traffic controllers rely on the kindness of others..

https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2025/10/23/shutdown-airports-tsa-donations/

 

Judge temporarily blocks firings by Trump administration during shutdown

"I am inclined to grant the plaintiff's motion," said Illston during a court hearing on the injunction request. "The evidence suggests that the office of management and budget, OMB, and the office of personnel management, OPM, have taken advantage of the lapse in government spending, in government functioning to assume that all bets are off, that the laws don't apply to them any more, and that they can impose the structures that they like on the government situation that they don't like, and I find, I believe, that the plaintiffs will demonstrate, ultimately, that what's being done here is both illegal and is in excess of authority and is arbitrary and capricious."…

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/15/federal-worker-firings-blocked-judge-government-shutdown

 

Panic as US federal workers scramble to find out if they’ve been fired: ‘I don’t have email access’

"This is not a 'Democrat' program. This is special education."…

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/15/trump-federal-workers-layoffs

 

White House says furloughed federal workers not entitled to back pay amid shutdown

Senator Patty Murray of Washington, a top Democrat on the Senate appropriations committee, called the latest reinterpretation "lawless". "They're plotting to try and rob furloughed federal workers of backpay at the end of this shutdown," said Murray during Senate floor remarks. "This flies in the face of the plain text of the law, which could not be more clear."…

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/07/government-shutdown-federal-workers-pay

 

HUD website says 'radical left' will cause pain over shutdown in red banner - The Washington Post

A bright red banner alarmed federal workers Tuesday morning as shutdown anxiety mounted…

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/09/30/goverrnment-shutdown-politics-ethics/ 

 

Federal workers push for Democrats to try to rein in Trump admin

Restore research and funding where cuts have put public health and safety at risk. 

Stop illegal impoundments, in which the White House refuses to spend money appropriated by Congress. 

Reinstate employees who have been fired without cause and restore federal workers' union rights...

https://www.axios.com/2025/09/18/trump-government-shutdown-federal-workers

Federal employees moved into new jobs amid firings, vacancies - The Washington Post

The reassignments are often said to fill vacancies after waves of firings and resignations. Staffers also say the moves target civil rights work...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/09/04/federal-government-job-changes/

 

Three numbers that prove #trump is the worst president for #workers in A...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bn0WR3kLkPY

 

Federal Health Plans Ban Gender Affirming Care Under Trump Admin | HuffPost Latest News

This directive, which was quietly issued by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management's health care program, is the latest policy to target access to health care for transgender federal workers...

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-administration-gender-affirming-healthcare-trans-federal-employee-health-insurance-plan_n_68a36865e4b0b028bc36115b 

 

The federal government is paying more than 154,000 people not to work - The Washington Post

Early resignation offers and other programs have reduced the workforce, but critics say the moves are also wasting money...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/07/31/federal-workers-doge-buyout-paid/