President Trump’s Attacks: A Weekly Guide to President Trump’s Anti-Labor Activity July 15-22

The Supreme Court's Ruling Will Allow Trump to Continue to Indiscriminately Fire Workers Across the Federal Government

Last week, the Supreme Court's ruling gave the Trump administration a green light to move ahead with Trump's plan to fire tens of thousands of workers across the federal government, as reported by Politico. The Supreme Court justices granted an emergency appeal from the Trump administration after a judge in California blocked the layoffs stating that they would violate the law.

Trump's mass reductions in force across federal agencies have already upended thousands of working people's lives. According to the Department of Labor, 59,000 jobs have been cut in the federal government since January. With this ruling, that number will continue to grow as Trump plots to indiscriminately fire workers across several key agencies. These workers have dedicated their careers to serving the public, providing essential services everyday.

AFL-CIO President Shuler responded to the ruling in a statement. Of the federal workers President Shuler said,

"These are the workers who care for our veterans, make sure our food is safe to eat, protect our health and safety on the job and deliver the essential services we all rely on daily. They track and respond to natural disasters, support our public school educators and ensure our water is clean."

Trump's Continued Attacks on our Public Schools

The Supreme Court agreed on Monday that the Trump administration can proceed with dismantling the Education Department by firing more than a thousand workers, as reported in the New York Times.

By firing the remaining 1,300 workers in the department, Trump will effectively dismantle the department, putting an end to the services that working families rely on to ensure that their children have access to higher education through federal loans, fund programs that support students with disabilities, and protect their fundamental civil rights.

The State Department is Trump's Latest Target for RIFs

Just days after the Supreme Court's ruling, employees at the State Department were targeted by Trump's agenda to execute reductions in force. On Friday morning, The State Department laid off more than 1,300 staffers, cutting the workforce by about 15%, as reported by Politico.

As a result of the layoffs, U.S. based offices will be closed. The layoffs will impact bureaus and offices responsible for foreign assistance programs that handled issues of energy policy, global human rights and refugees and migration issues. The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor's entire global programs office, which handles foreign assistance, was eradicated as a result of the cuts.

All Democratic members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee penned a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday denouncing the RIFs (Reductions in Force).

"During a time of increasingly complex and wide-spread challenges to U.S. national security, this administration should be strengthening our diplomatic corps-an irreplaceable instrument of U.S. power and leadership-not weakening it," the senators wrote. "However, RIFs would severely undermine the Department's ability to achieve U.S. foreign policy interests, putting our nation's security, strength, and prosperity at risk."

As reported by CBS NEWS, the layoffs carried out on Friday are only the beginning of RIFs targeting the State Department.

The Impact of Cuts to Medicaid in New Jersey

The devasting impacts of Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" which was signed into law on July 4, will rip healthcare from 17 million workers across our country. According to NJ.com, here in New Jersey, 1.8 million people rely on Medicaid for healthcare. As a result of the $3.6 billion cut to Medicaid's $24 billion program budget, the law will leave 360,000 working poor, disabled and elderly people without healthcare, according to a statement from state Human Services Commissioner Sarah Adelman. As reported in the New Jersey Globe, New Jersey officials estimate that the state will lose $3.3 billion per year in hospital and public health funding.

The ability of 800,000 people in New Jersey who receive SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) food assistance in New Jersey to feed themselves and their families will also be jeopardized.

As the attacks on working families continue, we will continue to empower our members with the facts that they need to know in the upcoming November 4 election. Together, we will refuse to be silenced by the attacks on our livelihoods, healthcare, public schools, communities, and our workplaces.