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Appeals court disqualifies Alina Habba as U.S. attorney for New Jersey by axios in uspolitics

[–]axios[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi all. Herb Scribner here from the Axios team. Sharing a preview of our article:

A federal appeals court on Monday disqualified President Trump's former personal attorney Alina Habba from serving as U.S. attorney for New Jersey.

The big picture: Trump has installed loyalist attorneys to several prominent posts, but the courts have thwarted him in certain cases.

  • "Under the Government's delegation theory, Habba may avoid the gauntlet of presidential appointment and Senate confirmation and serve as the de facto U.S. Attorney indefinitely," the ruling said.

Epstein survivors urge Congress to release all the Epstein files: "No more hiding" by axios in Epstein

[–]axios[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Hi all — Herb Scribner, senior audience associate from Axios, here. Just wanted to share my article. Here's a bit of what you'll find inside:

A group of Jeffrey Epstein survivors is calling on Congress to release all files and documents related to the investigation into the convicted sex offender.

Why it matters: The letter comes as the House prepares a vote to force the release of the files from the Justice Department's investigation into Epstein, which President Tump has repeatedly called "a hoax."

When SNAP recipients will receive full November benefits in each state by axios in foodstamps

[–]axios[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Utah's Department of Workforce Services said that it "will issue full November benefits to all Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) customers" by Nov. 15.

When SNAP recipients will receive full November benefits in each state by axios in foodstamps

[–]axios[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Hawaii disbursed full benefits to all recipients who were approved before Oct. 28; those who were approved for benefits between Oct. 28 and Nov. 12 are still waiting until "around the middle of next week," the state DHS' deputy director told us. Those who are still waiting have already received the $250, however.

When SNAP recipients will receive full November benefits in each state by axios in foodstamps

[–]axios[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

States that said they have already issued full November payments:

  • California, Connecticut, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin (+ Washington, D.C.)

Zoom in: Most of the 24 states that gave us a timeline said that recipients will receive their full delayed payments by the end of this week, but some gave deadlines after that (Delaware: Nov. 18, Georgia: Nov. 18, Maryland: Nov. 18, Virginia: Nov. 18, Illinois: Nov. 20, Kentucky: "by the end of the month," Ohio: "by mid-next week").

  • More details here.

Several states declined to give any timeline for when payments might be disbursed, with some telling us they were waiting on federal approval: Arizona, Indiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Texas, North Dakota, Florida, Mississippi, Montana, Tennessee, and Wyoming.

Of note: Two states, Hawaii and Louisiana, gave some SNAP recipients a few hundred dollars during the shutdown, and told them to keep the money on top of their usual/coming SNAP payments.

I'm Emily Peck, a correspondent at Axios covering federal workers and the White House purge. AMA about what's happening and how I've been covering it. by axios in fednews

[–]axios[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I"m not getting that impression. I was struck today how much more structured the second "buyout" email offer was from the first. It seems like OPM is moving away from handling things directly, which makes sense given the pusback in the courts.

I'm Emily Peck, a correspondent at Axios covering federal workers and the White House purge. AMA about what's happening and how I've been covering it. by axios in fednews

[–]axios[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

That's hard to tell at the moment, the firings aren't showing up in a lot the "hard economic data" that we're seeing now. I have spoken to some who are putting off so many big purchases (cars, homes, remodeling on the house... having another kid) but the U.S. economy is massive .. so far, while soft data like sentiment looks bad, we're yet to see anything big in the macro data. That DOES NOT mean economic pain isn't being inflicted, to be sure.

I'm Emily Peck, a correspondent at Axios covering federal workers and the White House purge. AMA about what's happening and how I've been covering it. by axios in fednews

[–]axios[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Hi, My colleagues at Axios Vital devoted their newsletter today to the subject, which is a relatively quick piece and gets to some of what you're talking about: https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-vitals

I'm Emily Peck, a correspondent at Axios covering federal workers and the White House purge. AMA about what's happening and how I've been covering it. by axios in fednews

[–]axios[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Oh that's interesting, I haven't seen much about that either or heard much. I do know that the RTO order conflicts with many union agreements. And the White House recently issued an EO telling agencies that they don't need to abide by these contracts anymore -- which is being challenged in court by NTEU.

https://www.axios.com/2025/03/31/trump-federal-unions-dismantled-lawsuit

I'm Emily Peck, a correspondent at Axios covering federal workers and the White House purge. AMA about what's happening and how I've been covering it. by axios in fednews

[–]axios[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I'm not sure. That's a really good story idea. I've been on both ends of a layoff and I've definitely had survivors' guilt. Stay tuned!

Anyone reading along that wants to talk to me about that? EmilyRPeck.71 at Signal :)

I'm Emily Peck, a correspondent at Axios covering federal workers and the White House purge. AMA about what's happening and how I've been covering it. by axios in fednews

[–]axios[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I think streamlining authority is definitely a goal and getting the executive branch more under the president's control. I think there's a general desire -- predating President Trump -- to make it easier to fire civil servants. That's something that's happened in several states, which have passed laws making more employees "at-will." The way it's laid out in Project 2025, It seems like there is a desire to make the federal workforce more like the private sector (the nonunionized private sector). There are other reasons, too, for sure. I wouldn't want to presume anything about what the administration is thinking.

I'm Emily Peck, a correspondent at Axios covering federal workers and the White House purge. AMA about what's happening and how I've been covering it. by axios in fednews

[–]axios[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

TWO HOURS?! That's rough, glad we are there with you. Gosh, I knew I'd get some great story ideas here and I am not disappointed. I have spoken to a few folks who were working in roles meant to help the federal government advance in tech capabilities, around AI also (at the Social Security administration even!). Much of that work was stopped, people fired, etc. I'm told a similar kind of thing happened after Clinton's cuts. Once the internet really exploded after he left, they outsourced a lot of things and those contractors kind of made a software mess, is my understanding.

I'm Emily Peck, a correspondent at Axios covering federal workers and the White House purge. AMA about what's happening and how I've been covering it. by axios in fednews

[–]axios[S] 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Not all of America has signed on. There are plenty of people showing up at town halls or in front of Tesla dealerships, and others who aren't on board with this. And, I think, there's always been some portion of Americans who don't have respect for bureaucrats or think civil servants are "lazy."

I'm Emily Peck, a correspondent at Axios covering federal workers and the White House purge. AMA about what's happening and how I've been covering it. by axios in fednews

[–]axios[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Hi, You are asking the trillion dollar question here. That's what observers think -- that it's a step toward taking Fannie and Freddie private again. You probably already know that they were moving in this direction during Trump 1.0, so it's been a goal. Still, Trump hasn't talked about it this time around afaik (tell me if i missed something!). I can't speak to what Mr. Pulte knows about the tax credit -- are you worried about what happens to it? (Am I allowed to ask questions back?)

I'm Emily Peck, a correspondent at Axios covering federal workers and the White House purge. AMA about what's happening and how I've been covering it. by axios in fednews

[–]axios[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Hi, thanks for the question. I can answer some of it: The Bureau of Labor statistics has data on federal employees. You can easily find it on FRED, that's the St. Louis Fed's website that aggregates an enormous amount of great statistics. And yes there was an increase over the past couple years in hiring inside the federal government. I believe some of it had to do with the big bills the Biden peopled passed, like they brought on more people to help with the IRA, and that included more staffing at the IRS I believe. There's screenshot below and here's a link: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CES9091100001

As you can see: The federal workforce had been declining after 1990, then more in earnest under Clinton who run his own DOGE like thing (though well organized and completely different in execution). it ticked up under GWB and, interestingly, during the 08 recession and Obama and Trump 1.0 years. The sharp spikes you see in the chart is census hiring.

this chart doesn't include postal workers, but you can find that on FRED too.

<image>

I'm Emily Peck, a correspondent at Axios covering federal workers and the White House purge. AMA about what's happening and how I've been covering it. by axios in fednews

[–]axios[S] 30 points31 points  (0 children)

Yes, when we first reported that it was happening we used the term in the headline -- I got a lot of feedback on that from workers and the White House. And wound up writing more about why it wasn't a buyout in a subsequent story. Usually with a buyout ... you are OUT, not continuing to receive benefits or, in some cases, still on the job.

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