In October 2020, President Trump unveiled a plan to grant himself the power to fire vast numbers of civil servants for any reason should they get in the way of his agenda. Five and a half years later, that plan has come to fruition, despite vast public opposition. Starting March 9, an unspecified number of federal employees could lose their current job protections and be converted into at-will employees at Trump's discretion.
In this new season, I'm asking how the Trump White House is rewriting the rules of U.S. politics, and talking to Americans whose lives have been changed as a result. Today's episode examines the destruction of the civil service: the removal of professionals, and their replacement with loyalists. I've seen this kind of transformation before, in other failing democracies. Everyone suffers from the degradation of public services.
When going through change, people need time to understand in their own way what exactly is happening and how it will affect them personally. Technical changes especially can bring about uncertainty for many people. Which means: It makes sense that people can become extremely concerned when we tell them that their ways of working are about to change, and they will need to build them up again from scratch.
They aren't part of the federal judiciary established by Article III of the Constitution such judges have life tenure, and even the Trump administration hasn't claimed it can fire them. Rather, immigration judges are essentially civil servant lawyers who work for the Department of Justice. They fall under the DOJ's Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR). Their job is to decide cases involving asylum, deportation, removal and detention under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
In these broken times, it's not easy to spare a thought for the plight of the humble civil servant. But bear with me and open your heart. Last week, it emerged that the Cabinet Office has brought in new rules for civil servants about the types of meetings they can hold. Anything that constitutes a networking meeting now has to be held outside working hours.
The union is pushing for two significant pay claims aimed at addressing responsibilities and retention challenges for assistant principal and principal officer grades.
