Trump's Memo To Federal Employees Is A Scam, A Purge, And It's Illegal

Here is the Trump/Musk memo to federal employees:

 

And here is Robert Reich's advice to those employee's:

I’m addressing this post to America’s 2.3 million federal employees.

My message: Don’t accept Elon’s offer. 

Yesterday, Musk — via people he’s planted in the Office of Personnel Management — sent an email to all 2.3 million of you, offering to pay you for eight months of work, through September 30, if you’ll resign from the government before February 6. Otherwise, you risk being furloughed (that is, not paid) or fired. 

You know what this is about. Not slimming the federal workforce, but substituting Trump loyalists for people like you, who are working for the American public. 

Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff for policy, said it out loud Tuesday on CNN: "The 2 million employees in the federal government are overwhelmingly left of center.” And now that Trump is elected, "it is essential for him to get control of government.” 

But the fact is, neither Musk nor even Trump has legal authority to offer you eight months of pay if you’ll resign by February 6.

 

Your salaries are funded by the federal agencies and departments you work for, not by the Office of Personnel Management, not by Musk, and not by Trump.

 

None of them is authorized by Congress to move money from one agency or department to another without Congress’s approval. I know. I used to be a cabinet secretary. 

Besides, the funding for your agency or department is guaranteed only through March 14, when the government is expected to shut down unless the debt ceiling is lifted. If not, any commitment for additional pay is worthless.

In fact, Musk (and Trump) are violating the law by agreeing to spend money that the administration doesn’t have. Congress could declare the entire offer illegal — which it is. Then where would you be?

May I also add that you shouldn’t trust Trump or Musk. 

Trump has a long history of stiffing workers and contractors. 

So, for that matter, does Musk. During the pandemic, Musk gave Tesla employees permission to remain at home if they didn’t feel comfortable reporting to the factory. Then he sent them termination notices alleging “failure to return to work.”

When he bought Twitter in 2022, Musk denied he wanted to lay off 75 percent of its staff (“No way I’m laying off 75 percent of them”) but then fired 80 percent of them (maybe that’s what he meant when he pledged not to fire 75 percent?) 

In short, it’s a bum offer. Reject it.

 

By the way, thank you for your service. 

And Paul Krugman's advice to federal employees:

The latest and biggest move has come in the form of an email from the Office of Personnel Management, which appears to have effectively been taken over by associates of Elon Musk, effectively offering a buyout to federal employees who resign in the next few days. On paper, it isn’t exactly a buyout; those who accept the offer will be placed on administrative leave but supposedly continue to be paid until September. But being told that you can stop working while receiving eight months’ salary is just a buyout by another name.

There are five things you should know about this plan:

1. It’s illegal.

2. It’s almost surely a scam: workers who take the offer probably won’t see the money they’ve been promised.

3. To the extent that workers actually take up the offer, they’ll be the workers we can least afford to lose.

4. The move will cost, not save money.

5. What this really amounts to is a purge, replacing professional civil servants with political loyalists.

It’s pretty clear that the principal motivation is political. This is a purge, an attempt to push out government workers who believe that their job is to serve the public and replace them with Trump loyalists.

The "Deep State" Is Just Workers Obeying The Constitution

We hear a lot about the "Deep State" these days - especially from MAGA Republicans. They want you to believe that Trump could have "saved" America if not for that nefarious Deep State (who refused to carry out his orders and undermined his presidency). That's bullshit!

I don't doubt there were government employees who refused to carry out some of Trump's desires. That's because those Trump wishes were either illegal or unconstitutional. 

The Deep State is nothing more than honest men and women who work for the federal government. They dedicate their lives to serving the citizens of this country (usually at a lower salary than they could have made in the private sector).  They are not working because of some evil purpose, but because they have a desire to serve.

They have pledged to uphold the Constitution, and they do so - even when urged to violate it by some politician or business leader. And they uphold the law. If they don't, they will be the ones charged and convicted, and they know that.

They also put up with a lot of abuse from the general public, when they must make decisions that some don't like. But they know that's just part of the job. They are Democrats, Republicans, and Independents that put their politics aside to do the job to the best of their abilities. And they do that regardless of what they might think about the political leaders in charge at any particular time.

They are our neighbors, friends, and associates. And they try their best to treat everyone fairly (whether they know them or not).

These people should not be feared. They should be thanked. They make our lives better.

Trump Has Brought Together "A Collection Of Supervillains"

While campaigning, Donald Trump made a couple of promises to the American people. He said he would hire only the best people and that he would drain the "swamp" in Washington, D.C.. He has done neither. Instead, he has filled his administration (and our government agencies) with a cast of incompetents, criminals, and lobbyists. In other words, instead of draining the swamp, he has filled it with even more vicious monsters than before.

This is not just my opinion. Some honest Republicans are also starting to realize what Trump has done. Here is just some of what self=professed Republican Matt Lewis had to say in The Daily Beast:

This week’s news about Omarosa secretly taping chief of staff John Kelly and President Donald Trump is yet another reminder of something about Trumpworld: Politics has always attracted eccentric opportunists, but people in this administration are especially weird. 

In the case of Omarosa Manigault Newman, we are talking about a melodramatic reality star who lies constantly and brought a recording device into the Situation Room. But she’s just the latest example of the motley crew Trump has made famous.

Take, for example, the president’s campaign manager, Paul Manafort, who is currently on trial for tax and bank fraud and reportedly paid more than $18,000 for a python jacket. Or Trump’s former senior adviser, Steve Bannon, who studies obscure Italian fascists and insists on wearing multiple layers of clothing yet doesn’t seem to own a comb or a razor. 

And let’s not forget Rob Porter, the straight-looking Trump staffer who (allegedly) beat the hell out of two of his ex-wives before dating Hope Hicks. Seb Gorka was the Hungarian fugitive who was a villain straight out of central casting. Scott Pruitt was the former head of the EPA with a penchant for French cuisine and Ritz Carlton hand lotion. 

Only the best people?

Clearly, Trump likes casting people who are not just interesting characters, but who are also cartoon caricatures. There’s Rudy Giuliani, the bulging-eyed former “Mayor of America” who has become a parody of himself. There’s Mooch (Anthony Scaramucci), who is essentially a caricature of a fast-talking Italian businessman.

And Michael Cohen, the Trump lawyer who watched Goodfellas one too many times. And Corey Lewandowski, the erstwhile campaign manager who probably still has a poster of Lee Atwater hanging on his bedroom wall. And even Stephen Miller’s own uncle thinks he’s a schmuck. I could go on.

It’s almost as if Trump visited the far corners of the universe to bring together a collection of supervillains.