Elon Musk estime entre 5 à 10 % des effectifs qui démissionneraient. CNP POOL – CHRIS KLEPONIS POOL
The Donald Trump government proposed a new idea on Tuesday, January 28. They are offering compensation to civil servants who wish to resign from their posts. The proposal has been strongly denounced by the American left.
After ordering the freezing of billions of dollars in subsidies, the Donald Trump government proposed on Tuesday to federal civil servants who wish to resign in exchange for compensation, as part of a vast offensive to reduce public spending.
On Monday evening, the White House asked federal departments and agencies to freeze part of their spending“assistance” – subsidies and allowances in particular – and to conduct an overall review to ensure their compliance with “presidential priorities”. Vehemently denounced on the left, the measure was suspended Tuesday by a judge before potentially blocking hundreds, even thousands of billions of dollars irrigating the entire country. The sensational announcements continued Tuesday evening: American federal employees received a letter offering them to resign while keeping their salaries and benefits until the end of September.
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“It is estimated that 5 to 10 percent of the workforce will resign, which could save around $100 billion”, said Elon Musk, the head of Tesla, SpaceX and X, who is leading an advisory mission to the government to make savings. The letter from the office responsible for federal employees recalls that the American president has issued several directives concerning civil servants, decreeing in particular the ban on telework, the end of affirmative action in recruitment, increased attention to performance and probable social plans to reduce staff. These are all management principles dear to Elon Musk, who had fired three-quarters of Twitter employees (now X) in the weeks following his acquisition of the social network at the end of 2022. The office thanks those who decide to stay, while specifying that it cannot guarantee the sustainability of their position.
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The freeze on federal subsidies decided on Monday evening, described on Tuesday by White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt as “very responsible“, quickly provoked an outcry. Several NGOs and organizations representing small businesses have filed an appeal with a federal court in Washington, deeming the memo published Monday evening “devoid of any legal basis or the simplest justification”. The judge hearing the case ordered its immediate suspension, until next Monday, the time to review the case. The attorneys general of 23 states have also announced that they will challenge this text of the executive branch.
The Democratic opposition, for its part, has stepped up to the plate, denouncing, through the voice of the head of the Democratic minority in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, an “illegal, dangerous, destructive, cruel decision”. “This is a robbery, done on a national scale,”, he also scathingly said. “Americans should ask themselves if it's woke to fund cancer research or the rebuilding of a dilapidated bridge,”, added Washington State Senator Patty Murray.
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According to Columbia University law professor Gillian Metzger, “the executive branch has the ability to “defer or cancel spending but only in specific cases and according to specific procedures”. The measure has caused confusion in the country. For a few hours on Tuesday, the access portal to Medicaid, the health insurance for the poorest Americans, was inaccessible in several American states, preventing hospitals and doctors from obtaining payment for the services performed, according to several elected Democrats. The White House later assured that access would be restored.
Reducing the State
According to the presidential memo, the objective is “to eliminate the financial burden of inflation on citizens, put an end to woke policies and the instrumentalization of the State”. The fight against “wokeism”, associated with left-wing political correctness, is one of the hobby horses of American conservatives.
The federal government spent more than $3 trillion last year in “financial assistance”, which includes grants, loans, emergency aid in the event of natural disasters – all expenditures approved by Congress.
Last week, the United States already froze aid provided outside its borders, while a complete review is carried out. The Republican promised during his campaign to reduce the weight of the federal government and cut spending.