Jay Weber Show transcript 1-23-25
I have always said- throughout my many years of doing this show- I never want to see people lose their jobs. I never celebrate ‘layoffs’ or firings- because it’s an action that is crippling to people’s lives.
That said: when the Biden era democrats took a federal workforce of 1.8-million workers under trump and ballooned it into a 2.4-million worker workforce that ‘we, the people’ pay for with all of our hard-earned tax dollars-
I am not going to be sad to see ‘any’ layoffs of federal workers that might be coming our way.
Most of them are going to be the very people who Biden’s leftists hired to balloon government in the first place- right?
Like ‘diversity officers’....and ‘LGBTIQQ liaisons’ in the military-etc.
So- first off: any actual federal layoffs that we see will be almost entirely tied to Biden’s insane expansion of government in the first place and so ‘last hired, first fired’ is really going to apply here.
Secondly: I got to say...it’s about time that we see some govt workers shaking in their boots and/or worried about their jobs, and layoffs, or whether they might be reassigned.
I take that position because: this is what happens in the private sector all the time...and so government workers should be subjected to the same sorts of ‘occasional scares’ that the rest of us in the working world are subjected to.
Let’s face it: many of these federal government workers are very good people. Our friends and neighbors. But -some of them- have become way too certain that they are the untouchables, and that the simple fact of ‘being in govt work’ means they are bulletproof when it comes to pay cuts, or layoffs, or the financial hardships of the sort that most Americans go thru.
Thru that prism? I’m not finding much sympathy for them as I read stories in the DC rags and left wing blogs about how ‘anxious’ and ‘mortified’ our federal workers are....because trump’s coming back into office promising to cut the fat.
Doesn’t that describe what every company goes through when it’s sold or merged with another one?
Honestly. We’ve all gone through it.
So why should govt workers be encouraged against downsizing, or pay cuts, or layoffs.
And folks- pay cuts- are never. Ever. Ever a thing in govt work. Layoffs might be -very- occasionally. But pay cuts or a loss of benefits are- never- something that govt workers need to worry about. I’ve simply never seen it happen in 35 years.
Oh- hey- their next raise might not be as big.
What was supposed to be a five percent raise next year might be trimmed to three percent-and they -in their world- might want to call that a pay cut. But it’s not.
The pay cut is: you were an ATF agent making 100 grams a year and now you’re going to be making 85-grand a year because we’ve had a tough year and have to slash your salary.
No one. In government. Ever goes through that, as we do in the private sector.
But- as for the rest of it: there’s panic and uncertainty among workers. No one quite knows what’s happening. Some of the most recent hires need to be told- sorry- the company’s just been sold...etc.
Everything described here goes on in the private sector all the time.
And no, I’m not looking to ‘trash’ federal workers here or mock them in a time of uncertainty for some of them-but the number of federal workers might be affected by trump’s changes and/or lose their jobs will be a small percentage, indeed.
This is ‘widespread panic’ over a small number of cuts or changes.
The story goes on to talk about how- wow- the demand that they return to the office five days a week so really a gut punch. Wow- this is really upsetting.
Again: the private sector workers all went through it during covid- and most of them have returned back to work in the building or worked out the shared work schedule. Federal workers will, too.
But I’ll give them the same advice I gave the private sector workers who were complaining about having to go back into the office: if you don’t like it- quit. Because that’s what your owner or boss is telling you need to do.
Why should govt workers be any different?
And yet-they are. And yet- they have been- especially at the federal level.
People forget that President Biden-technically-ordered them all back to work in their buildings at least two years ago.
Only in government can virtually every worker in the workforce say, ‘screw you’, ignore the boss, and stay home. But that’s basically what happened when Biden ordered federal workers back into the buildings.
And Biden’s follow up when his orders were ignored? Was to simply do nothing. No follow thru. Cave to the labor union bullying, etc.
Trump’s not that kind of boss.
And yes, some of these workers were working remotely even before being covid, and don’t even have an office to return to: all of that can be worked out.
But for others to be mortified that they are being asked to honor the original parameters of their job- well, tough.
I’d remind them that – since covid moved them all to working from home-republican congressman have been pressing President Biden and the democrats to go ahead and sell off all sorts of these empty federal office buildings-and Biden’s regime and chuck and Nancy, etc.- have refused.
The dems have had zero interest in watching out for the taxpayers in that way.
And so- gee- if the democrats had decided that these federal workers would all work from home permanently- they would have been smart to cooperate with govt auctions to sell the real estate-
Then these govt workers wouldn’t have a building to return to...and oops.... I guess this work from home is permanent, now...
But their democrat task masters weren’t even smart enough to do that.
So here comes Trump and Vance: we have empty govt buildings and less responsive govt agencies...with no place for Americans to even stop and ask a question of a real live person....so...you’re all reporting back to the building.
That’s not a terrible or unexpected turn of events. That, too, is return to common sense.
It says something about how far away from ‘government service’ most of these workers and agency heads have wandered....if a simple request like this is met with such blowback and panic-doesn’t it?
These stories suggest that ‘govt unions are mobilizing’...and ‘employee strike teams are forming’ to fight back...and...by God...how can we fight this...
You are being asked to ‘do your jobs!
The other move that trump is making that is meant to reclassify some civil service workers as political appointees so that they can be more easily fired or transferred-is also perfectly reasonable.
It really is.
When did it become a ‘sacred right’ to hold a job in the federal government for 30 years and never lose it-and never have the job description change?
If our elected leaders feel like this government has gotten too bloated-and it has- why can’t there be an easier mechanism to adjust the numbers?
This has always annoyed me: a govt job - once created- can never go away?
And a govt worker-once hired- can never be fired-even if their job-does? - go away?
Even with this Dei declaration of trump’s, the automatic reaction inside govt is, well then, we’ve got to find an equivalent govt job to slide these people into...
Why?
Why can’t they just be dumped into the unemployment line like every other American worker is?
This is another situation that has developed over time because democrats and labor unions have been allowed to be on both sides of the bargaining table...and worker protections for both union and non-union jobs-in government-have gotten way out of control.
The rules aren’t meant to benefit the public or the u-s taxpayer, as they should be they’re meant to benefit the employee, the govt labor unions, the elected bosses....Everyone but! - the US taxpayer.
And so, if president trump is making a move to allow more of our govt workers to be ‘fire able’ so that our elected officials can make government more efficient and responsive?
Great.
It’s long overdue.
Trump signed an executive order making hundreds of thousands of federal workers as ‘at will’ employees ...to allow them to be more easily moved or terminated.
That’s a good thing. And long overdue.
And some of them are covered by union collective bargaining agreements-well- so be it. They cannot immediately be reclassified...or there will be court cases...
But it’s fantastic that Trump is willing to ‘take this on’.
Joe Biden added nearly half a million federal employees over the last four years- why can’t the next administration strip them out?
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