Lisa Desjardins:
The reductions in force, known as RIFs, led by the DOGE team had been on hold for months. A lower court judge ordered a pause because the Trump administration did not consult Congress first.
But the majority of the Supreme Court ruled that the planning for mass firings can move forward. The justices wrote that the court is not ruling on the future firings, but only on the president’s order that agencies start planning them.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, writing sharply that the court is “green-lighting the president’s legally dubious actions in an emergency posture.”
To discuss where things stand and how federal workers are responding, I’m joined by Everett Kelley, the president of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents more than 800,000 people.
Everett, a lot of people want to know what this means for federal workers. What are you hearing from them?
Everett Kelley, National President, American Federation of Government Employees: Well, thank you for having me, first of all, Lisa.
Federal employees are just at a disarray, if you will. They are so confused. In one minute, they have been told, you’re going to get RIFed. The next minute, it’s put on hold, and then you’re going to be RIFed again. So people are confused.
But, at the same time, they are more determined now than ever to fight these unjust actions.
