Throughout the government shutdown, President Trump and his top aides have repeatedly threatened to conduct another round of mass federal layoffs, insisting at times that they may have to shed workers to keep essential services from closing down.
But the firings now under consideration may be unlawful or unnecessary, according to a wide range of budget experts, legal scholars and union officials. They say that the White House is only looking to exploit the fiscal stalemate to further its political agenda, shrink the government and punish Democrats.
At the heart of the matter is a familiar question in Mr. Trump’s second term: To what extent may he reconfigure the sprawling federal bureaucracy without a clear directive from Congress?
Mr. Trump has already dismissed thousands of civil servants as part of this disruptive reorganization, spurring a wide range of legal challenges from workers who say the president’s actions exceed his authority under law.
Now, Mr. Trump has eyed even deeper cuts during the shutdown, a fiscal crisis in which millions of government employees are already on furlough or forced to report for duty without pay. The White House has claimed that the firings would be both necessary and warranted, and that the lapse in funding allows the president to target programs that no longer have money to operate.
“If this keeps going on, it’ll be substantial. And a lot of those jobs will never come back,” Mr. Trump said on Tuesday, as he appeared to threaten for the first time that those who keep their jobs — but have been furloughed — may not receive back pay.
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The post Mass Layoffs Trump Is Threatening in Shutdown Fight May Be Illegal appeared first on New York Times.
