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How to Push Back -- Joyce Vance
https://joycevance.substack.com/p/how-to-push-backThere is a reason Trump is afraid of the federal bureaucracy, the career civil servants he wants to replace. They are powerful. They are knowledgeable. And although they often get a bad rap, in my experience—25 years of it—they are dedicated and mission driven. Tell doctors at CDC, federal prosecutors at DOJ, or scientists at the Department of Agriculture that they can’t do their job, and they will find a way to get it done. Tell the entire bureaucracy you want them to leave? You’ve summoned the sleeping giant.
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Rather than receiving an email from their own agency, the normal course of business, federal employees received an email from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), essentially HR for the federal government, which was as much a threat as it was an offer. Its subject line was “Fork in the road,” which some folks on social media were quick to point out was also the moniker Elon Musk’s email to Twitter employees bore before he started mass firing employees there.
Before offering employees the opportunity for “deferred resignation,” the email laid out just how bad the federal work environment was about to get for the wrong kind of people if they stayed in place. Employees were advised to expect their agencies “to be downsized through restructurings, realignments, and reductions in force,” and that they could be furloughed if they stayed and held to new, “higher” standards. They were told that their jobs could be reclassified, and that they could be reassigned or even removed. Employees were advised, “At this time, we cannot give you full assurance regarding the certainty of your position or agency but should your position be eliminated you will be treated with dignity and will be afforded the protections in place for such positions.”
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Rather than receiving an email from their own agency, the normal course of business, federal employees received an email from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), essentially HR for the federal government, which was as much a threat as it was an offer. Its subject line was “Fork in the road,” which some folks on social media were quick to point out was also the moniker Elon Musk’s email to Twitter employees bore before he started mass firing employees there.
Before offering employees the opportunity for “deferred resignation,” the email laid out just how bad the federal work environment was about to get for the wrong kind of people if they stayed in place. Employees were advised to expect their agencies “to be downsized through restructurings, realignments, and reductions in force,” and that they could be furloughed if they stayed and held to new, “higher” standards. They were told that their jobs could be reclassified, and that they could be reassigned or even removed. Employees were advised, “At this time, we cannot give you full assurance regarding the certainty of your position or agency but should your position be eliminated you will be treated with dignity and will be afforded the protections in place for such positions.”
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