When unions and Democrats denounced the Trump administration’s efforts to cut federal workers through the acquisition of workers, some social media users say the president’s actions are parallel to former President Bill Clinton’s actions. He said.
“To all Democrats over President Trump’s acquisition program, I present you with a piece of history,” Ld Basler, a retired federal law enforcement officer, wrote X: Federal Workforce Restructuring Act.
“I don’t think Clinton had the authority either. Was it when he did that in the ’90s? (Because) the precedent was set by the Democrats,” another X-user wrote.
Is that true?
Under Clinton, the government provided massive acquisitions. But there is a significant difference in what is happening under President Donald Trump. The bipartisan Congress overwhelmingly approved Clinton’s program after months of review.
In contrast, Trump’s “postponed resignation” offer, known as a conversational takeover, emerged within a week of the inauguration, with much uncertainty about the terms.
“We spent six months involved hundreds of federal workers and made hundreds of recommendations for Clinton and Gore, acquiring.
The status and legality of Trump’s program remains unknown. The administration set a six-minute late-night deadline for workers to accept offers, but a federal judge in Massachusetts blocked the deadline and set a hearing on Feb. 10.
The federal trade union sued, writing that the administration “does not provide a statutory basis for an unprecedented offer.” The lawsuit questions whether the federal government respects its commitment to pay participants through September 30th.
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management said 40,000 employees had received the offer as of February 5th.
The acquisition under Clinton is attributed to reviews and actions by Congress.
A few weeks after his presidency in February 1993, Clinton has completed at least 4% of civilian status over three years through takeoff or “early outing programs.” An executive order has been issued telling them to cut back.
Congress paved the way for acquisitions. In March 1994, Clinton signed HR 3345, the Federal Workforce Restructuring Act of 1994. The law passed broadly bipartisan margins: 391-17 in the House and 99-1 in the Senate.
The Act approved acquisitions of up to $25,000 for a selected group of employees in the Enforcement and Judicial Division, except for employees at the Department of Defense, Central Intelligence Agency, or General Accounting Office (currently is known as the government’s accountability department). The law set a deadline on April 1, 1995.
Clinton said the plan would allow for 273,000 “employment cuts” by the end of 1999.
“After all the rhetoric about reducing government size and costs, our administration has made a tough choice,” Clinton said in a statement. “We believe that laws like these will drive deficits, which will make the economy stronger and make the lives of middle-class people better.”
The law was a huge growth in Clinton’s national performance review, launched in March 1993 with the slogan “Improve government jobs and reduce costs.” Clinton has appointed Vice President Algore to lead the review and publish the report within six months.
Approximately 250 career civil servants worked on the review and created recommendations with agency employees.
Not everyone agreed to the Clinton Goai initiative.
Although “there was a opposition,” union leaders supported reducing the power of middle managers, most reduction goals, and the role of union growth in negotiations. , the Deputy Director of the National Performance Review told Politifact.
Gore “is billed as a ‘town meeting’, but it’s similar to a group therapy session where workers can air their emotions about their work,” the Chicago Tribune wrote in June 1993.
Gore’s September 1993 report produced hundreds of recommendations, including shopping. Gore went out on David Letterman’s late-night television show to promote the plan.
“So you’ve corrected the government?” asked Letterman.
“We found a lot of very ridiculous things with too much money,” Gore said.
Gore grew ashtrays that purchased the government and read federal regulations on how they must break when the ashtray falls. Put on safety goggles, Gore broke the ashtray with a hammer.
Clinton “had a very deep commitment to change, but it wasn’t hostile,” said Paul Wright, professor emeritus of public services at New York University.
Clinton’s efforts to reduce the federal workforce came from his campaign platform as a “new Democrat,” who said the era of massive government was over, leading Clinton Gore’s review, and now Brookings Elaine Camarck, director of facility director, said effective public management.
“We were technological revolutions and didn’t need as many management layers as we used to be,” Kamarck said.
How the Trump administration wants to cut jobs
Clinton’s approach sought to be surgical in determining which employees could be mitigated without undermining the government’s overall mission.
Trump’s approach so far has involves shopping and firing without review periods or conduct from Congress. On January 28th, the Human Resources Office emailed federal employees about “forks on the road.” (Eron Musk, who leads Trump’s new government efficiency, used the same phrase in all his staff messages in 2022 after purchasing Twitter.)
The email said remote workers must return to work five days a week and provide a “deferred resignation.” Employees had resigned and paid until February 6th and September 30th (until court intervention on February 6th). The email suggested that layoffs were possible.
Approximately 2 million employees received the offer. The private federal workforce is around 2.4 million, putting US postal service workers aside, according to the Pew Research Center. The average annual salary is around $106,000.
Some workers were exempt from offers, including military, postal workers, immigration enforcement, national security and public safety workers.
Trump’s program is more generous than Rachel Gresler, a senior researcher at the Clinton program, Heritage Foundation, and the conservative think tank told Politifact. Clinton’s $25,000 offer is about $55,000 in dollars today. Trump’s plan says it will pay people for about eight months, so it’s even higher considering the salary of the average federal worker.
The Democratic Attorney General said payments may not be guaranteed, urging members to follow the guidance of union officials. The Democrat senator raised similar concerns about a short window into which employees can determine Trump’s authority to do this.
Trump issued an order reclassifying workers, making it easier for him to fire them – another subject of the lawsuit. Orders to end the federal government’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) program placed workers on paid leave.
The reporter asked White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt if the program is a way to wipe out government for those who don’t agree with the president.
“That’s absolutely wrong,” Levitt said. “This is a proposal for federal workers and they have to go back to work. If not, they have the option to resign. And the administration said it would be a payment for eight months. Very generously provided.”