User:SusanLesch/sandbox

{{Main|2025 United States federal mass layoffs}}

Trump implemented a hiring freeze across the federal government and ordered telework of federal employees to be discontinued within 30 days.{{cite news |last=Davies |first=Emily |title=On Day 4 of President Trump, telework is on the chopping block |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/01/23/federal-worker-mandates-resistance-trump/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=January 23, 2025 |access-date=February 5, 2025}}{{cite news |last1=Green |first1=Erica L. |last2=Robertson |first2=Campbell |last3=Scheiber |first3=Noam |author-link3=Noam Scheiber |title=Trump's Moves to Upend Federal Bureaucracy Touch Off Fear and Confusion |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/25/us/politics/trump-federal-workers.html |website=The New York Times |date=January 25, 2025 |access-date=January 28, 2025}} He ordered a review of many career civil service positions with the intention of reclassifying them into at-will positions without job protections.{{cite news |last=Doyle |first=Michael |title=Trump plan to upend civil service advances under new name |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2025/01/27/trump-plan-civil-service-00200757 |website=Politico |date=January 27, 2025 |access-date=January 28, 2025}}{{cite news |last1=Shalal |first1=Andrea |last2=Spetalnick |first2=Matt |title=Trump accelerates campaign to remake federal bureaucracy |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trumps-attack-diversity-programs-bureaucracy-sends-us-agencies-scrambling-2025-01-23/ |work=Reuters |date=January 23, 2025 |access-date=January 28, 2025}} He initiated mass job terminations of federal employees,{{cite news |last=Collinson |first=Stephen |date=January 28, 2025 |title=Trump sets about his retribution agenda with relish |work=CNN |url=https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/28/politics/trump-retribution-agenda-analysis/index.html |access-date=January 28, 2025}} which were described by legal experts as unprecedented or in violation of federal law,{{cite news |last=Savage |first=Charlie |author-link=Charlie Savage (author) |date=January 27, 2025 |title=Fired Inspectors General Raise Alarms as Trump Administration Moves to Finalize Purge |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/27/us/politics/trump-inspectors-general-fired.html |access-date=January 28, 2025}} with the intent of replacing them with workers more aligned with his agenda.{{cite news |last1=Basu |first1=Zachary |last2=Lawler |first2=Dave |title=Trump's bureaucracy goes to war |url=https://www.axios.com/2025/01/27/trump-federal-eorkers-inspectors-general |website=Axios |date=January 27, 2025 |access-date=January 28, 2025}} By late February, the administration had fired more than 30,000 people.{{cite news |title=DOGE continues to hollow federal workforce after already firing more than 30,000 |date=February 28, 2025 |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/doge-continues-to-hollow-federal-workforce-after-already-firing-more-than-30000 |last=Desjardins |first=Lisa |author-link=Lisa Desjardins |work=PBS Newshour}} To facilitate further terminations, it adopted a novel legal interpretation that vastly expands the range of departments and agencies considered as having national security for their primary function,{{cite web |last=Wagner |first=Erich |title=Trump order aims to outlaw most government unions on 'national security' grounds |url=https://www.govexec.com/workforce/2025/03/trump-order-aims-outlaw-most-government-unions-national-security-grounds/404113/ |website=Government Executive |access-date=March 31, 2025 |date=March 28, 2025 |quote=Trump cited a rarely used provision of the 1978 Civil Service Reform Act allowing the president to exclude agencies and agency subcomponents from collective bargaining rules if the rules 'cannot be applied to that agency or subdivision in a manner consistent with national security requirements.'}}{{cite news |last=Druker |first=Simon |title=Executive order would ban federal employee unionization, collective bargaining |url=https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2025/03/28/donald-trump-federal-unionization-collective-bargaining-executive-order/2671743183358/ |website=UPI News |access-date=March 31, 2025 |date=March 28, 2025}}{{cite news |last=Kanu |first=Hassan Ali |title=Trump administration sues to end some federal workers' union contracts |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/28/federal-workers-unions-lawsuit-donald-trump-00257991 |website=Politico |access-date=March 31, 2025 |date=March 28, 2025 |quote=The Trump administration is asking Albright for a reinterpretation of federal law that would permit the agencies to rescind union contracts, rather than alleging any particular legal violations on the unions' part.}} declaring various federal workers' unions "hostile".{{cite news |last=O'Brien |first=Rebecca Davis |title=Trump Order Could Cripple Federal Worker Unions Fighting DOGE Cuts |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/29/us/politics/federal-worker-unions-doge.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=March 31, 2025 |date=March 29, 2025}}{{cite news |last=Hsu |first=Andrea |title=Trump signs order ending union bargaining rights for wide swaths of federal employees |url=https://www.npr.org/2025/03/28/nx-s1-5343474/trump-collective-bargaining-unions-federal-employees |website=NPR News |access-date=March 31, 2025 |date=March 28, 2025}} A late March executive order based on this interpretation excluded dozens of departments and agencies from federal labor-management relations programs, prompting them to sue to invalidate their collective bargaining agreements,{{cite news |last=Wiessner |first=Daniel |title=Trump administration sues to invalidate dozens of union contracts |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-administration-sues-invalidate-dozens-union-contracts-2025-03-28/ |website=Reuters |access-date=March 31, 2025 |date=March 28, 2025}} which could remove union protections from 1 million federal employees.{{cite news |last1=Iyer |first1=Kaanita |last2=Luhby |first2=Tami |title=Trump signs executive order ending collective bargaining rights for many federal workers |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2025/03/28/politics/executive-order-collective-bargaining-national-security/index.html |website=CNN |access-date=March 31, 2025 |date=March 28, 2025}} He ordered an end to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) projects in the federal government and placed employees in DEI offices on leave. He rescinded Executive Order 11246, which mandated affirmative action and nondiscrimination practices for federal contractors.{{cite news |last=Reid |first=Tim |title=Trump's rapid changes in US government stun federal workers |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trumps-rapid-changes-us-government-stuns-stirs-anxiety-among-federal-workers-2025-01-24/ |website=Reuters |date=January 24, 2025 |access-date=January 28, 2025}}{{cite news |last1=Mark |first1=Julian |last2=Telford |first2=Taylor |last3=Svrluga |first3=Susan |title=In first days, Trump deals 'death blow' to DEI and affirmative action |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/01/23/trump-dei-affirmative-action/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=January 23, 2025}}

Trump and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency largely dismantled several federal agencies including USAID and the Department of Education, unilaterally fired several thousand staff, and reduced administrative functions to statutory minimums.{{Cite news |last=Brownstein |first=Ronald |author-link=Ron Brownstein |date=March 20, 2025 |title=Trump's moves to hollow out government could be difficult to undo |work=CNN |url=https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/20/politics/trump-musk-federal-government-reagan/index.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=April 3, 2025 |quote=Together with Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency, the Trump administration has sought to rapidly deconstruct governmental power through, among other approaches, massive reductions in the federal workforce; the sale of federal buildings; the complete elimination of federal agencies, including the Department of Education, which Trump is expected to begin the process of dismantling on Thursday; and the cancellation of grants that sustain extensive networks of nonprofit humanitarian organizations overseas and sophisticated academic research institutions at home.}}{{Cite news |last=Pager |first=Tyler |date=March 15, 2025 |title=Trump Orders Gutting of 7 Agencies, Including Voice of America's Parent |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/15/us/politics/trump-order-voice-of-america.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=April 3, 2025}}{{cite news |url=https://apnews.com/article/trump-musk-usaid-c0c7799be0b2fa7cad4c806565985fe2 |title=Trump and Musk move to dismantle USAID, igniting battle with Democratic lawmakers |date=February 3, 2025 |access-date=February 5, 2025 |first1=Ellen |last1=Knickmeyer |first2=Farnoush |last2=Amiri |first3=Adriana |last3=Gomez Licon |work=AP News}} Some actions, such as attempts to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, were paused by federal courts.{{Cite news |last=Gillison |first=Douglas |date=March 28, 2025 |title=Federal judge orders halt to Trump administration efforts to dismantle consumer agency |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/federal-judge-orders-halt-trump-administration-efforts-dismantle-consumer-agency-2025-03-28/ |access-date=April 3, 2025}} Many of his actions attempted to bring historically independent institutions under direct executive branch control in diminished forms.{{Cite news |last1=Kavi |first1=Aishvarya |last2=Wong |first2=Edward |date=April 2, 2025 |title=Musk's Task Force Begins Shutting Down Foreign Policy Research Center |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/02/us/politics/doge-wilson-center.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=April 3, 2025 |quote=The apparent gutting of the Wilson Center would be the latest attempt by the Trump administration to bring federally funded institutions that have historically been independent under executive branch control, and in much diminished forms. Mr. Musk and his task force have helped lead efforts at slashing those institutions and various federal agencies.}}

"The vast majority of the over two million federal employees have long enjoyed civil service protection. At the start of Trump’s second term, only about 4,000 of these were political appointees."

"Heritage Foundation and other right-wing groups have spent millions of dollars recruiting and vetting an army of up to 54,000 loyalists to fill government positions."

"The Trump administration could similarly deploy the tax authorities against critics." "Tax-exempt status may also be politicized."

"Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Toyota each gave $1 million to fund Trump’s inauguration,"

https://www-foreignaffairs-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/united-states/path-american-authoritarianism-trump

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Boris negotiated law firms

https://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/trumps-1-billion-law-firm-deals-are-the-work-of-his-personal-lawyer-77bd7b8c

penchant for theatrics

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/13/arts/television/donald-trump-tv-ice.html

Trump has acquired a taste for theatrics, "using imagery with an almost imperial aesthetic to project an air of ubiquity, authority and invincibility"

His administration leans on slick production of him signing executive orders, cameras present at immigration raids, and his Oval Office visit with Zelenskyy.

signing ceremonies

Television critic James Poniewozik reported that early polling found Trump to be "tough," "energetic" and "effective".{{cite news |title=In This Trump Presidency, the Domination Will Be Televised |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/13/arts/television/donald-trump-tv-ice.html |last=Poniewozik |first=James |author-link=James Poniewozik |date=February 13, 2025 |work=The New York Times}}

{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/donald-trump-mugshot-arrest-jon-sopel-b2399354.html |title=Trump’s mugshot was a theatrical masterstroke with a showman’s flair for the outrageous |last=Sopel |first=Jon |date=August 25, 2023 |work=Independent}}