• If Trump wants real mass layoffs, Congress must agree to defund positions.
• Until then, these workers remain on payroll—even if they aren’t working.
• This is about dismantling government, not cutting costs.
(6/🧵)

• Zero dollars saved
• Congress controls the budget
• The president can’t just slash agencies without Congress cutting funds

So all Trump has done is put thousands of federal workers on a taxpayer-funded vacation while gutting government services.
(5/🧵)

Example: USAID went from 10,000+ employees to ~294 active workers.
• Did Trump fire them? No.
• Are they gone? No.
• They’re just not allowed to work.

The agency has functionally collapsed, but taxpayers are still paying their salaries.
(4/🧵)

Since Trump can’t legally fire them, he put them on administrative leave instead.
• Still on payroll
• Not doing any work
• Still collecting full salaries & benefits

This means zero cost savings, but it cripples federal services.
(3/🧵)

Most federal workers can’t be fired by the president.
• Political appointees? Yes, they serve at his pleasure.
• Career civil servants? No—they’re protected by law.

The only way to fire them legally is through a Reduction in Force (RIF), and Congress must approve that.
(2/🧵)

The March of the Feebermites.

Is this real? I was a regular listener during this era and this sounds out of character for them.

A defibrillator.