The termination emails were riddled w/mistakes — w/employees’ names, the month of April & even the institute’s title misspelled in places — a telling sign of the rushed & haphazard nature of the operation….
By Saturday morning, the terminated #USIP headquarters staff were already discussing filing a class-action lawsuit & were debating whether to sign their termination documents.
In the latest action, employees were instructed to sign a 4-pg letter ordering them to return all #USIP property while agreeing to forgo all future claims against the institute. It ordered them not to disclose any terms of the agreement in exchange for 1 month of #HealthInsurance & a monthly stipend paid for an unspecified period. Those who refuse to sign, the letter said, will lose all #benefits as of Monday.
#USIP employees told WaPo that 200–300 people — nearly the entirety of USIP’s HQ staff — had been fired. The employees, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of #retribution from the #Trump admin, said some employees were offered severance & one additional month of health insurance, in exchange for their signatures to WAIVE their RIGHTS to sue.
#Musk / #DOGE fires nearly all staff at US Institute of #Peace HQ
The #Trump admin summarily fired the staff of the #USIP late Friday night, <2wks after forcibly removing the congressionally funded org’s president & installing in his place an agent of #tech billionaire #ElonMusk’s DOGE….
#law #USpol #TrumpCoup #TrumpPurge #democracy #diplomacy #fascism #tyranny
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/03/29/doge-usip-peace-institute-fired/
Long waits, waves of calls, web crashes: #SocialSecurity is breaking down
A flood of cuts led by #ElonMusk has sent the agency into chaos as a new commissioner prepares to take charge.
#law #USpol #seniors #disability #benefits #YourMoney #Trump #TrumpPurge
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/03/25/social-security-phones-doge-cuts/
#Trump Asks #SCOTUS to Block Rehiring of Fired Federal Employees
The Trump admin asked the #SupremeCourt to block a ruling from a judge federal judge in California who ordered it to rehire thousands of fired federal workers. The ruling, which applied to workers who had been on probationary status, is just one of many that have halted admin initiatives, prompting Trump to seek the Supreme Court’s intervention.
From MorePerfectUnion IG. Had to share this as #valeriecosta proves each and everyone of us can make a huge difference. #teslatakedown #TeslaProtests #muskrat #trumpcoup #TrumpFascism #AOC #grassroots #unionstrong #usa2025 #TrumpPurge #trump2
The 4th Circuit rejected the #Trump admin’s motion for a stay of the #TRO ordering the rehiring of probationary #FederalWorkers in State of Maryland v. USDA.
“Given the district court's stated intention to hold a hearing on March 26, 2025, & to promptly grant or deny preliminary injunctive relief thereafter, the court denies the appellant's request for an administrative stay or a stay pending the resolution of the appeal.”
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69746454/state-of-maryland-v-usda/
The US District Court of Appeals for DC just issued an order “Upon consideration of the petition for writ of mandamus & the emergency
motion for a stay” in NM v #ElonMusk
It “ORDERED that respondents file responses to both the emergency motion &
the mandamus petition by 5PM on Mon, March 24, 2025. Any replies are due
by 5PM on Tues, March 25, 2025.”
The same judges hearing #Trump’s #AliensEnemiesAct appeal are hearing Musk’s appeal: Henderson, Millett, & Walker
The #Trump admin is appealing a judge’s order requiring #ElonMusk & #DOGE to comply w/evidence demands from Democratic state ofcls who claim the #billionaire is exercising #unconstitutional #power across the US govt.
The #DOJ is arguing the lower court judge’s “unusual & highly invasive” order “raises grievous separation-of-powers concerns” by requiring a presidential adviser & the WH to turn over info about their activities….
#law #USpol #transparency #TrumpPurge
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-03-19/trump-administration-fights-order-to-turn-over-doge-information
‘People Are Scared’: Inside #CISA as It Reels From #TrumpPurge
Employees at the #Cybersecurity & #Infrastructure #Security Agency…are struggling to protect the #US while the #Trump admin dismisses their colleagues & poisons…partnerships.
#MassLayoffs & weak leadership are taking a severe toll on the US govt’s #cyber #defense agency, undermining its ability to protect America from…adversaries bent on crippling infrastructure & #ransomware gangs…bleeding #SmallBusiness dry.
https://archive.is/2025.03.13-143433/https://www.wired.com/story/inside-cisa-under-trump/
Don’t worry about filing this year I guess:
The #IRS chief of #tax compliance, Heather Maloy, has told the agency she plans to resign effective Friday.
Other recent IRS departures:
- Commissioner
- Acting commissioner
- Chief human capital
- Chief procurement
- Acting chief procurement officer
- Chief counsel
- Chief transformation & strategy
Those officials are Jeremy Lewin, who has been working for the cost-cutting task force led by the billionaire #ElonMusk, & Kenneth Jackson, a #State Dept official who was named the acting president of the U.S. Institute of #Peace #USIP this week [another independent agency under assault by #Trump, #Musk & #DOGE & subsequently embroiled in federal lawsuits].
#PeteMarocco, the #State Dept ofcl who oversaw the #Trump admin’s efforts to dismantle the main govt agency distributing foreign #aid, announced in an email on Tues night that he would be replaced at the agency by 2 officials who had been involved in making the cuts.
Marocco said in the email that he would remain at State as director of #ForeignAid, but that 2 other officials would handle what remains of the #USAID.
2 Officials Who Helped Dismantle #US #Aid Agency Are Named as Its New Leaders
Secretary of #State #MarcoRubio said he had canceled 83% of #USAID’s programs. A federal judge found that efforts to shutter the agency were likely #unconstitutional.
#law #USpol #Trump #Musk #DOGE #ForeignPolicy #SoftPower #TrumpPurge
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/19/us/politics/usaid-doge-leadership.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=p&pvid=1B3ACA71-70A6-4630-8DE3-5A77E2B20013
Judge Howell added she was particularly concerned about the success of the plaintiff’s likelihood of success, particularly because they had sued in their official capacities even though they had been removed.
#USIP sued the #Trump admin after members of #ElonMusk’s #DOGE effectively executed a physical takeover of USIP HQ earlier this week.
Throughout the hearing, Judge Howell repeatedly emphasized the appalling treatment of the people who worked at #USIP. But she ultimately said there are serious questions about USIP's structure that suggest #Trump may have authority to do what he did. She will expedite case.
Judge Howell said she is unclear whether the USIP is an executive branch agency, & has requested a briefing on the matter.
Joseph Rillotta, a senior #IRS lawyer, wrote that “no one” at the IRS had taken into account the performance of the probationary workers set to be fired. Rillotta urged that the language be struck from the draft termination letter.
If the falsehood wasn’t removed, Rillotta said he would file a report w/the #InspectorGeneral for the IRS.
…according to previously unreported emails obtained by ProPublica, a top lawyer at the #IRS warned #Trump admin officials that the performance-related language in his agency’s termination letter was “a false statement” that amounted to “#fraud” if the agency kept the language in the letter.
The emails reveal that in the hours before the IRS sent out its Feb. 20 termination letter [to nearly 7k employees], a fierce dispute played out at the agency’s highest levels.
