Shit is getting real.
As you might recall, I am a federal employee at the Department of Veterans Affairs. A CNA (nurse assistant) in the rehab and hospice unit at my local VA hospital. Today, we got an email from the Office of Personnel Management.
During the first week of his administration, President Trump issued a number of directives concerning the federal workforce. Among those directives, the President required that employees return to in-person work, restored accountability for employees who have policy-making authority, restored accountability for senior career executives, and reformed the federal hiring process to focus on merit. As a result of the above orders, the reform of the federal workforce will be significant.
The reformed federal workforce will be built around four pillars:
| 1) | Return to Office: The substantial majority of federal employees who have been working remotely since Covid will be required to return to their physical offices five days a week. Going forward, we also expect our physical offices to undergo meaningful consolidation and divestitures, potentially resulting in physical office relocations for a number of federal workers. |
| 2) | Performance culture: The federal workforce should be comprised of the best America has to offer. We will insist on excellence at every level — our performance standards will be updated to reward and promote those that exceed expectations and address in a fair and open way those who do not meet the high standards which the taxpayers of this country have a right to demand. |
| 3) | More streamlined and flexible workforce: While a few agencies and even branches of the military are likely to see increases in the size of their workforce, the majority of federal agencies are likely to be downsized through restructurings, realignments, and reductions in force. These actions are likely to include the use of furloughs and the reclassification to at-will status for a substantial number of federal employees. |
| 4) | Enhanced standards of conduct: The federal workforce should be comprised of employees who are reliable, loyal, trustworthy, and who strive for excellence in their daily work. Employees will be subject to enhanced standards of suitability and conduct as we move forward. Employees who engage in unlawful behavior or other misconduct will be prioritized for appropriate investigation and discipline, including termination. |
Each of the pillars outlined above will be pursued in accordance with applicable law, consistent with your agency’s policies, and to the extent permitted under relevant collective-bargaining agreements.
If you choose to remain in your current position, we thank you for your renewed focus on serving the American people to the best of your abilities and look forward to working together as part of an improved federal workforce. 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.
If you choose not to continue in your current role in the federal workforce, we thank you for your service to your country and you will be provided with a dignified, fair departure from the federal government utilizing a deferred resignation program. This program begins effective January 28 and is available to all federal employees until February 6. If you resign under this program, you will retain all pay and benefits regardless of your daily workload and will be exempted from all applicable in-person work requirements until September 30, 2025 (or earlier if you choose to accelerate your resignation for any reason). The details of this separation plan can be found below.
Whichever path you choose, we thank you for your service to The United States of America.
Trump is offering an 8-month severance package to ALL 2 million federal workers.
Lots of loaded language.
“Reclassification of at-will status for a substantial number of federal employees” – means we lose our union protection.
“The federal workforce should be comprised of employees who are reliable, loyal, trustworthy” – swear loyalty to Trump.
“Employees will be subject to enhanced standards of suitability and conduct” – pretty cut and dry. Toe the line or face retaliation.
Pretty loaded language, and pretty laughable for one of the most disgusting and corrupt human beings to ever walk the earth to talk about what is ethical and good.
How many important agencies and institutions will we lose? What will happen to education, healthcare, the environment? This administration is enemies with the very idea of government.
I worry not as an employee however. I am only a CNA, for one. I don’t attract attention. It will be devastating to lose union protection, however. Those protections give me, a disabled veteran, a chance to maintain employment despite difficulties. I worry much more about the VA and what’s going to happen to it as a patient.
It’s my VA, not his. Draft dodging piece of shit. Fuck him.
I am terrified to see how the madman in office is going to fuck it up. I wouldn’t even be that worried if we were just talking about restructuring and increased accountability for executives – god knows we could trim some of that fat. But these words go much further. These words are loaded language demanding a creepy level of “loyalty” to the orange clown and this new administration and hostile to the American worker. Stripping us of our unions strikes me as particularly anti-American. Those early union efforts got us 40 hour work weeks and paid time off, among a lot of other things. Unions backing the American worker are always American as fuck.
I don’t really know what else I can say on the matter. Everyone has something to say about Trump. Yes, he’s the crazy, stupid person who started it all but Trumpism transcends him. Trumpism is far right and authoritarian. It glorifies the usurpation of trusted institutions and bedrock law. It fucks up culture. Welcome to the beginning of Project 2025.
We barely survived his first four years, we will not survive another. America will still be around in some form or fashion but will never again be the America we knew.
Documenting my journey through the mental health system 
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