The Guardian -Donald Trump’s administration could wrack up a “monumental” bill and is breaking the law by firing government workers on spurious grounds, according to a top labor lawyer. Officials have cited “poor performance” when terminating thousands of federal workers. In many cases it’s not true, according to employees embroiled in the blitz, many of whom are now seeking legal advice.
Jacob Malcom was acting deputy assistant secretary for policy and environmental management, and director of the office of policy analysis at the US Department of the Interior – until this week, when he resigned in protest against the mass firings of probationary employees.
“This is being done under the guise of ‘poor performance’ or ‘skills not aligned with needs’ but neither are true,” he told the Guardian. “First, no evidence was provided that would suggest that poor performance; in fact, I know some of the individuals that were down my chain of supervision and know they were among the best performers.
“Second, [there has been] no evidence or analysis of a lack of alignment with needs. Some of the people terminated in my chain actually work on performance and efficiency, so they literally work on the public argument of the Doge.”
The so-called “department of government efficiency”, a unit led by billionaire tycoon Elon Musk, has been permitted by Trump to conduct a wide-ranging blitz across the federal government in the name of improving efficiency.
But Suzanne Summerlin, a labor attorney, said an “astounding” level of “fraud, waste and abuse” had been occurring as the Trump administration sought to overhaul a string of departments and agencies.
“These firings they’re conducting without following the law will result in hundreds of thousands of former federal employees being owed back pay, plus interest, plus benefits, plus attorneys fees,” said Summerlin. “When the bill comes it will be monumental.” More
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