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civil service
The Only Demand Trump Needs to Hear: ‘You’re Fired!’
Given his wreckage of lives, livelihoods, health, safety, and freedom of speech here and abroad in just 100 days, Trump invites daily the unifying command arising out of his declaration of war against the American people.
May 03, 2025
Of all the epithets seething from the foul mouth of King Donald I (his preferred title)—“deranged,” “wacko,” “lunatic,” “crazy,” “crooked,” “loser,” “criminal,” “corrupt,” the most timely, functional one is his favorite: “YOU’RE FIRED.”
Launched from his TV program, The Apprentice, while a failed businessman, Trump, using the poisonous tusks of Elon Musk, has conveyed that exit phrase to hundreds of thousands of innocent public servants, performing crucial tasks, and their contractors since January 20, 2025.
Given his wreckage of lives, livelihoods, health, safety, and freedom of speech here and abroad in just 100 days, Trump invites daily the unifying command arising out of his declaration of war against the American people—red state and blue state—“YOU’RE FIRED!”
Trump, a corporation masquerading as a Human, must be unmasked by the following bill of particulars:
Because you’re first “presentation of self” on January 20 was to declare that you are the law and that no constitution, statute, or regulation was going to stop your issuance of scores of illegal Executive Order Dictates, “YOU’RE FIRED!” The Constitution does NOT provide for either a Monarch or a Dictator!
Because on and after January 20, 2025, you launched a major PURGE of lawfully acting civil servants, including 17 inspectors general mandated to root out criminal and fraudulent activities, and top officials in the Pentagon, Intelligence, and Regulatory agencies without reason and notice, replacing them with sycophants, “YOU’RE FIRED!”
Because you are daily CENSORING and IMPERILING people, protected by our First Amendment, with police state kidnappings, illegal imprisonment in foreign and domestic jails, threats, harassment, bigotry, and outright criminal extortions for unlawful demands, “YOU’RE FIRED!”
Because you have repeatedly violated congressional mandates, including the power of the purse and health and safety standards, and because you have illegally seized basic congressional authority under the Constitution, having defied over 125 congressional subpoenas in your first term, destroying our federal checks and balances, “YOU’RE FIRED!” (See, Wrecking America: How Trump’s Lawbreaking and Lies Betray All by Mark Green and me, published in 2020).
Because you are rampantly and unlawfully dismantling or closing down virtually all the long-established regulatory and scientific research, protections of the health, safety, and economic well-being of the American people, families, and children, within the areas of consumer, worker, environmental, and community necessities—many life-saving, “YOU’RE FIRED!”
Because you favor even greater power of large corporations to receive bloated contracts, subsidies, and giveaways; with impunity defraud the government, as with Medicare and Medicaid and military contracts; take over more of the public lands; and see scores of existing federal enforcement cases against them halted or dismissed, “YOU’RE FIRED!”
Because you have destroyed more of the working civil service than all previous presidents combined, you have left the American people more defenseless against pandemics, climate violence, air and water pollution, hunger, infectious diseases, and corporate crimes, “YOU’RE FIRED!”
Because you are demanding Congress pass more tax cuts and tax escapes for the very under-taxed super-wealthy, like you and your family members, and giant corporations, and because you have turned the White House into a self-enrichment business for you and your cronies, “YOU’RE FIRED!”
Because you have extended your cruel and vicious destructions against innocents abroad receiving life-saving medicine, food, and medical supplies from the U.S. Agency for International Development that you unlawfully have closed down, millions of poor people are in jeopardy and many thousands already dying and starving. You are told about these tragedies you have caused but could care less. Your zigzagging on massive tariffs destabilizing U.S. businesses and their workers is leading more of your supporters to question your competence and wrongheaded policies. Because regarding the Israeli genocide and slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza and casualties mounting in the West Bank, you have backed your master Netanyahu even more than Bibi-Biden, greenlighting breaking the truce, resuming mass murder and starvation, pushing for expulsion of the entire surviving population, and approving annexation of the West Bank, “YOU’RE FIRED!”
Because every day you lie, and make false statements as a routine deceptive practice (over 35,000 lies and false statements listed by The Washington Post during your first term), you are creating harmful, false scenarios. Together with Musk enriching his corporate positions in Washington, you lie about each day’s realities such as the price of eggs being down 85%, our country now having a trade surplus, and your approval rating in polls “in the 60s and 70s,” “YOU’RE FIRED!”
Because your erratic, wild, and no-holds-barred fascist dictatorial corporate state “first” behavior proceeds from a dangerously unstable personality, driven by your insatiable vengeance as a megalomaniacal power freak, ignorant of or oblivious to circumstances and consequences, your continued wreckage in all directions is certain to worsen and shatter our Republic and its constitutional processes, “YOU’RE FIRED!”
Expanding numbers of Americans from all backgrounds who see the deadly months ahead of Dangerous Donald need to sum up their demands in the siren call “YOU’RE FIRED!” Just as was done to President Richard Nixon for far less serious transgressions in 1974.
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Dear Dem Leaders: We Need Strategies, Not Speeches
I understand that you, like so many of us, are overwhelmed. But with respect, that is not an excuse. You are a leader in the Democratic Party, and leadership in this moment demands more.
Apr 17, 2025
I’ve worked on Democratic campaigns at every level—from city council to Congress—knocking doors in the rain, training volunteers in living rooms, and flipping districts no one thought we could win. But today, I’m not writing from the field. I’m writing from a place of deep urgency. As someone who has helped build Democratic power from the ground up, I can’t stay quiet about what I see at the top: too much caution, too much delay, and not nearly enough fight.
During a bout of insomnia, I found myself thinking not just about what’s wrong—but about what we can do. The tools Democratic leadership still has, even in the minority. Like many others awake at 5:00 am, somewhere between dread and determination, I sat down to write a letter to my representatives—two of whom also happen to be party leaders.
In it, I shared the frustration that so many Democrats are feeling: that our elected officials are not rising to meet the urgency of this moment. But I didn’t stop at critique. I laid out real, tangible strategies—actions I believe we can take, and must, before it’s too late.
Here Are Just a Few of the Strategies Democratic Leadership Could and Should Be Using Right Now
Use Every Procedural Tool to Obstruct Authoritarian Legislation
Even in the minority, Democrats still have tools—filibusters, discharge petitions, amendments, withholding unanimous consent. These tactics should be used not sparingly, but relentlessly, to stall extremist overreach and force accountability.
With Republicans holding only a slim majority in both chambers, many votes require every GOP member to be present. That means well-timed delay tactics—whether procedural roadblocks or quorum pressure—can significantly disrupt daily proceedings and deny legitimacy to the Trump administration’s agenda.
Amplify Activist Voices and Resistance Movements
Read Project 2025 and Trump’s authoritarian policies into the Congressional Record. Bring activists and experts to testify. Turn committee hearings into moments of truth and visibility—not just for legislation, but for resistance.
Public hearings and press conferences should feature not just elected officials, but activists, whistleblowers, and legal experts. Let them speak on the record about what’s at stake. Turn the machinery of Congress into a spotlight—not just for legislation, but for truth-telling, narrative building, and grassroots solidarity.
Encourage Legal action at the State Level Against Corrupt Actors
While federal oversight may stall under a hostile administration, state attorneys general can still investigate, subpoena, and prosecute. Democratic leaders should coordinate and publicly support legal action at the state level—especially in cases of insider trading, abuse of power, and the politicization of federal agencies during the Trump years.
Importantly, state-level prosecutions cannot be pardoned by the president. That independence makes them one of the most effective tools we have for securing real consequences. These legal efforts can also serve as a deterrent, a signal that public service does not grant impunity—and that even in a divided government, justice is not off the table.
Support Civil Servants Who Were Endangered or Silenced
President Donald Trump’s prior administration targeted career civil servants with ideological purges, abrupt terminations, and politically motivated firings. USAID employees, diplomats, scientists, and inspectors general were removed or undermined—often without cause or recourse.
Democratic leaders should stand with these workers by supporting their lawsuits, amplifying their stories, and publicly defending civil service protections. The dismantling of a nonpartisan public workforce is a hallmark of authoritarianism. Defending that workforce is a line we cannot allow to be crossed again.
Challenge ICE and Private Detention Centers Through Local Governance
State and local governments don’t have to wait for federal reform to challenge ICE and the private prison industry. Democratic governors, mayors, and legislatures can cancel contracts, deny facility permits, and even pursue legal tools like eminent domain to reclaim control of detention sites.
These actions send a powerful signal: Cities and states will not be complicit in dehumanization. But there’s also a tactical layer—legal pushback forces major law firms to spend their pledged pro bono hours fighting complex eminent domain cases, rather than quietly defending Trump administration allies in high-profile federal court battles. Local resistance doesn’t just disrupt ICE—it redistributes institutional resources and applies pressure to power from multiple angles.
These are just a few of the actions we can take. I put them—along with a call to act—into a letter to my representatives. What follows is that letter, shared publicly in the hope that it inspires others to raise their voices, too.
Dear Senator Schumer and Congressman Jeffries,
My name is Laura Hughes. I’ve worked as a Democratic campaign organizer for over eight years, and I’m currently pursuing a Master’s in Public Administration at Columbia University. I share this because I want to be clear: I’m writing not just to voice frustration, but to urge action—with both urgency and strategy.
Let me begin by acknowledging what I know to be true: You, like so many of us, are overwhelmed. But with respect, that is not an excuse. You are a leader in the Democratic Party, and leadership in this moment demands more.
We are watching institutions unravel: People are being disappeared, federal departments are dismantled, the economy is unstable, rule of law is violated, and corruption is normalized. This is not a time for business as usual. We cannot afford to stand on ceremony when the floor is collapsing beneath us.
People are in the streets. They are looking to you—not just for speeches, but for strategy.
In both chambers of Congress, Democrats should be leveraging every procedural and political tool available. If Mitch McConnell taught us anything, it’s that a slim majority is no excuse for inaction. Senator Cory Booker had the right idea: We should filibuster more. We should obstruct more. We should use amendments, discharge petitions, and parliamentary procedure to grind every harmful effort to a halt. Invite activists to testify and disrupt proceedings. Read Project 2025 and every authoritarian overreach into the Congressional Record.
Make it harder for them—every single day.
Here are additional actions I urge you and your colleagues to consider:
1. Support legal accountability by encouraging state attorneys general to investigate and, where appropriate, indict former Trump administration officials for clear acts of corruption—such as insider trading or abuse of power.
2. Back civil service lawsuits—stand with civil servants whose careers and safety were jeopardized by abrupt terminations and dangerous policy shifts, such as those at USAID.
3. Empower local governments to resist ICE by encouraging Democratic governors, mayors, and state legislatures to end contracts with private detention centers, shutter ICE offices, and pursue creative legal mechanisms—like eminent domain—to challenge federal overreach and private prison profiteering.
I share these not as an outsider, but as someone who has dedicated her career to building Democratic power from the ground up. I believe in what we’re capable of—but I also believe we are failing to meet this moment.
I hope this letter reaches you not just as a call to act, but as a reminder: History will remember who resisted and who stood back.
With urgency and resolve,
Laura Anne Hughes
Constituent
Organizer
Policy Student
I wrote this letter out of urgency, but I’m sharing it out of hope. Because we still have time to turn the tide—if we’re willing to use every tool at our disposal. I’m asking our leaders to rise to the moment. And I’m asking all of us continue to demand that they do.
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Refusing to Help DOGE 'Dismantle Critical Public Services,' 21 Tech Experts Resign
"We swore to serve the American people and uphold our oath to the Constitution across presidential administrations," they wrote. "However, it has become clear that we can no longer honor those commitments."
Feb 25, 2025
Over 20 U.S. federal tech workers who were forced into President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency resigned in protest on Tuesday, according to a joint letter obtained by The Associated Press.
The 21 data scientists, engineers, and product managers were initially part of the United States Digital Service, established during the Obama administration. However, one of Trump's first executive orders states that it "is hereby publicly renamed as the United States DOGE Service (USDS) and shall be established in the Executive Office of the President."
As the AP detailed, "earlier this month, about 40 staffers in the office were laid off," leaving about 65 employees who "were integrated into DOGE's government-slashing effort." About a third of the spared workers—who previously worked for companies such as Amazon and Google—joined the mass resignation.
"We swore to serve the American people and uphold our oath to the Constitution across presidential administrations," wrote the 21 staffers, according to the news agency. "However, it has become clear that we can no longer honor those commitments."
"We will not use our skills as technologists to compromise core government systems, jeopardize Americans' sensitive data, or dismantle critical public services," they explained. "We will not lend our expertise to carry out or legitimize DOGE's actions."
Their resignation letter sounds the alarm about recent interviews conducted by Musk loyalists that "created significant security risks," noting that "several of these interviewers refused to identify themselves, asked questions about political loyalty, attempted to pit colleagues against each other, and demonstrated limited technical ability."
The letter also criticizes the recent USDS layoffs that "focused on people in roles like designers, product managers, human resources, and contracting staff," according to the AP, which cited interviews with current and former staff.
"These highly skilled civil servants were working to modernize Social Security, veterans' services, tax filing, healthcare, disaster relief, student aid, and other critical services," the letter states. "Their removal endangers millions of Americans who rely on these services every day. The sudden loss of their technology expertise makes critical systems and American's data less safe."
The firings at USDS are just part of Musk and Trump's sweeping effort to slash government spending and the federal workforce.
"Musk clearly loves to depict DOGE as a lean, mean efficiency machine," Intelligencer columnist Ed Kilgore wrote last week. "But it seems increasingly obvious that its efforts to reduce personnel levels and spending mostly reflect an ideology that treats whole areas of government as illegitimate and completely arbitrary reductions in force as a valuable end in themselves."
Fueling such arguments, the APrevealed Tuesday that nearly 40% of the federal contracts the Trump administration has canceled won't save any money. The Musk-led effort "published an updated list Monday of nearly 2,300 contracts that agencies terminated in recent weeks across the federal government," the news agency reported. "Data published on DOGE's 'Wall of Receipts' shows that more than one-third of the contract cancellations, 794 in all, are expected to yield no savings."
Reporting on DOGE's failures and the mass resignation came amid mixed messaging about a Saturday email from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the government's human resources agency, ordering federal workers to respond by the end of Monday with five bullet points listing what they did last week. Musk said on his social media platform X that "failure to respond will be taken as a resignation."
Then, Politico and The Washington Post reported Monday that the Trump administration had told federal department heads that they could direct staff to ignore the list requirement and Musk's threat, and emails from agency leaders informing workers they should not respond began circulating on social media.
Further adding to the confusion, the president told reporters Monday afternoon that anyone who doesn't reply would be "sort of semi-fired—or you're fired," and Musk later wrote on X: "Subject to the discretion of the president, they will be given another chance. Failure to respond a second time will result in termination."
Meanwhile, a Monday guidance from OPM states in part that responses to the initial Saturday email "should be directed to agency leadership," who "may exclude personnel from this expectation at their discretion and should inform OPM of the categories of the employees excluded and reasons for exclusion."
Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, a union that has pushed back on DOGE initiatives, said in a Monday statement that "Elon Musk's latest email fiasco is yet another example of the chaotic and callous treatment of federal employees that has been the hallmark of Trump's second term."
"It was nothing but a cynical attempt to demean federal workers and terrorize them into quitting," Kelley continued. "To be clear, federal employees report to the agencies who employ them through established chains of command. They do not report to OPM, 'DOGE,' and definitely not to Elon Musk."
"I'm glad reality is teaching them the lessons they refuse to teach themselves on how to run a functional civil service," the union leader added. "Make no mistake we will continue to hold Elon Musk and the entire Trump administration accountable for their illegal actions."
While DOGE has
hit some legal snags thanks to challenges from unions and other critics, the Trump administration has demonstrated a willingness to defy court orders and congressional Republicans are already targeting some federal judges with articles of impeachment for impeding the president's agenda.
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