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It's on

Before Elon Musk and Donald Trump can exercise authoritarian power, he must purge the federal bureaucracy. But federal workers aren’t playing ball. Federal workers see they are the targets of an authoritarian attempt to abolish democracy.

As many as 200,000 federal employees with weaker civil service protections could be let go. But they are supposed to only be fired for poor performance. FAA director Mike Whitaker resigned, effective January 20.

Donald Trump’s ultimatum to federal workers seems to be having the opposite effect.

The proposed rule, published in the Federal Register on July 12th, would enable federal workers to drop union membership—and opt out of paying membership dues—at any point after their first year of membership.

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the nation's largest union representing federal employees, urged Congress to override the move and stick to the Senate's pay proposal.

Reader Comments: Roseanne; NFL Support Taking a Knee; Jewish anti-Zionism; Iran sanctions; When the Mailmen Rebelled (struck) and Trump clamp-down on Federal workers; privatization of food policy in Africa; Resources: New video series on Black women leaders; GI resistance to the Vietnam war; and mo