Latest news with #Presidential
Time of India
17 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
Waqf Board rift reaches CMO over implementation of amended Act
1 2 3 Hyderabad: An internal disagreement between Telangana Waqf Board chairman Syed Azmatullah Husseni and chief executive officer Mohammed Asadullah over the convening of a board meeting escalated to the chief minister's office on Wednesday. The chairman has expressed concerns over the CEO's interpretation and attempted implementation of the amended Waqf Act, claiming that most states—particularly those not governed by the BJP—have yet to act upon it. He alleged that the CEO's move to enforce the new provisions in Telangana was unilateral and against the spirit of consensus within the board. The rift intensified when the chairman formally directed the CEO to convene a board meeting. In response, the CEO sought clarification from the state government on the legal standing of the board under the revised Waqf Act. The state govt subsequently advised the CEO not to proceed with the meeting until legal guidance is obtained from the advocate general. Speaking to TOI, Husseni questioned the CEO's eligibility under the new law, pointing out that the revised Act stipulates the CEO must be of joint secretary rank or above, whereas Asadullah is a deputy secretary–level officer. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Giao dịch vàng CFDs với sàn môi giới tin cậy IC Markets Tìm hiểu thêm Undo "As per the law, he should step aside until a suitable appointment is made," Husseni said. He also confirmed raising the issue with the CMO and pointed to the Centre's affidavit in the Supreme Court, which clarified that existing boards need not be dissolved immediately, nor should the Waqf-by-user clause be enforced rigidly at this stage. In response, Asadullah maintained that, as the statutory convener of the Waqf Board, he acted in accordance with protocol. He said that the amended Act had received Presidential assent and was thus in force, and that his letter to the govt merely sought procedural clarity. "The state govt advised me to await legal opinion before calling the meeting," he said. On the question of eligibility under the revised Act, Asadullah acknowledged the requirement for a joint secretary–level officer to serve as CEO and stated that he would comply with any direction issued by the govt on the matter. The state govt is expected to review the issue once Tafseer Iqbal, special secretary of the minorities welfare department, returns from leave on June 16.
India Gazette
4 days ago
- General
- India Gazette
Air Marshal Jasvir Singh Mann takes over as Sr Air Staff Officer of Western Air Command
New Delhi [India], June 1 (ANI): Air Marshal Jasvir Singh Mann assumed the role of Senior Air Staff Officer of the Western Air Command, Indian Air Force, effective June 1, as stated in the official announcement. The Air Marshal is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy and was commissioned as a fighter pilot in the IAF on 16 December 1989. He has flown over 3000 hours primarily on various types of fighter aircraft. He is a pilot Attack Instructor and in his operational career, he has commanded a fighter squadron, been Chief Operations Officer of a forward base and Air Officer Commanding of a premium fighter base, stated in the release. The release further mentioned that Jasvir Singh Mann has also held various important appointments at Air Headquarters and Command Headquarters. The Air Officer has directed Joint Military Training exercises with the Republic of Singapore Air Force in 2017 and the USAF in 2018. The Air Officer held the appointments of Senior Officer-in-Charge Administration & Air Defence Commander of Central Air Command. The Air Marshal is also an alumnus of the prestigious Defence Services Staff College and Royal College of Defence Studies, London (UK). Before taking over as Senior Air Staff Officer, Western Air Command, Indian Air Force, he was Director General (Weapon Systems) at Air Headquarters. The Air Officer is a recipient of the Presidential awards 'Ati Vishist Seva Medal' and 'Vayu Sena Medal'. (ANI)
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump is trying to make government workers more like those in Corporate America: Easier to fire
The Trump administration has revived a push to reclassify federal workers as at-will employees. They'd lose many of the job protections that career civil servants currently enjoy, and would be easier to fire. Critics argue it could undermine apolitical government jobs and face legal challenges. The Trump administration is trying to revive a measure that would make government workers who currently enjoy strong civil-service employment protections more like those in Corporate America: easily fireable. For now, many federal workers can't be fired for their political affiliations and can only be fired for a justifiable cause. Trump's move would change that by classifying them as employees who determine or make policy. They could, therefore, be fired for any legal reason with little to no notice. "This will allow agencies to quickly remove employees from critical positions who engage in misconduct, perform poorly, or undermine the democratic process by intentionally subverting Presidential directives," says the proposed Office of Personnel Management rule, which was introduced in a different iteration during Trump's first term and revived through an executive order this year. It is now open for comment until June 7. The move would ease the way for additional cuts to the federal workforce after the Trump administration's first major round of federal firings in February faced legal challenges and resulted in many workers getting reinstated. "I do expect to be Schedule F at some point. Personally, it's totally bullshit," a current Social Security Administration manager said. "This gets into the whole history of the civil service and the politicization of civil service, and whether as a public policy you think that's a smart idea or not; I do not." Some advocates for changing civil service status have pointed toward reducing administrative bloat, or federal bureaucrats wielding too much power. Two Republicans — Senators Eric Schmitt and Rick Scott — introduced a bill in 2023 that would make all executive branch workers at-will, saying that the current system disincentivizes efficiency while rewarding mediocrity. "President Trump was overwhelmingly elected in November to shake up Washington—and that starts with holding unelected government bureaucrats accountable," Schmitt said in a statement to BI. Similarly, the House-passed iteration of what Trump called his "big beautiful bill" would offer federal workers the option of opting in to at-will employment in exchange for having to pay less into retirement funds. At-will federal employees would function more like political appointees, who typically turn over when a new presidential administration takes office. Career civil servants, on the other hand, who do things like man Social Security phone lines or work IT for government websites, have certain protections so they can carry on with their work, regardless of which political party is in charge. The proposed rule has garnered over 16,000 comments, and the comment period has been extended by two weeks. For context, Webb Lyons, the former general counsel at OPM during the Biden-Harris administration, said that a Biden-era rule on civil service protections garnered 4,000 comments — "by far the most comments that we received on any regulation while I was at OPM for almost four years," he said. Next, the agency will review comments and finalize the rule. If it resembles the current proposal, it could represent a seismic shift. "This would be an unprecedented rollback of protections that were intended to ensure a non-partisan civil service can balance those interests of the President with their duty to uphold the Constitution and follow the law," Devin O'Connor, a senior fellow at CBPP and former White House Senior Advisor, said. There's already been a sneak peek into what the new classification, called "Schedule Policy/Career," would look like at the Social Security Administration. A mid-April memo seen by Business Insider from the previous acting commissioner at the SSA, Leland Dudek, outlined plans to reclassify large swaths of the agency's workers as Schedule P/C. The left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said the order would cover around 10,000 positions across the agency, including workers in roles like evaluating disability benefits applications and maintaining information technology. As of 2024, CBPP said, around 19 positions were classified as political appointees at SSA. "With Social Security, the sort of unofficial mission that people talk about every day is get the right check to the right person at the right time. That's a very apolitical job," Kathleen Romig, the director of Social Security and disability policy at CBPP and an SSA alum, said. Romig said that the proposed changes across SSA are a "broad brush." There's also the question of whether a mass reclassification could face an uphill legal battle: A brief from Elisa Walker, a senior fellow at the National Academy of Social Insurance and an SSA alum, found that the reclassifications may run afoul of a provision in the Social Security Act that stipulates the agency can have no more than 20 full-time roles that are policy-making. "Congress specifically built in these kinds of protections to keep the agency by and large nonpolitical. I think that context is really important," Walker said. "That is exactly why they wrote this provision — to prevent this kind of short-term politicization of the agency." The Social Security administration said in a comment that it is "committed to protecting Social Security and eliminating fraud, waste, and abuse in the federal government." "Some in the media have erroneously reported that SSA's optimization effort includes terminating employees in non-mission critical positions," the agency said. "However, this is not true. In fact, the number of SSA employees involuntarily removed from federal service so far this fiscal year amounts to one-tenth of one percent of our total employees." Romig said the threat of getting fired or having to toe the party line could also impact how SSA employees approach their work or how safe they feel expressing their views. One SSA worker who's been with the agency for 30 years echoed that concern: "I think everyone realizes that that means that since you are a political appointee, you could also just be let go with little or no protection or ability to fight against that. So one misstep and you could be gone." Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at jkaplan@ or Signal at julianakaplan.33. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely. Read the original article on Business Insider
Business Insider
28-05-2025
- Politics
- Business Insider
Trump is trying to make government workers more like those in Corporate America: Easier to fire
President Donald Trump has issued a blitz of executive orders, many of which have been challenged in court. President Donald Trump has issued a blitz of executive orders, many of which have been challenged in court. ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. The Trump administration is trying to revive a measure that would make government workers who currently enjoy strong civil-service employment protections more like those in Corporate America: easily fireable. For now, many federal workers can't be fired for their political affiliations and can only be fired for a justifiable cause. Trump's move would change that by classifying them as employees who determine or make policy. They could, therefore, be fired for any legal reason with little to no notice. "This will allow agencies to quickly remove employees from critical positions who engage in misconduct, perform poorly, or undermine the democratic process by intentionally subverting Presidential directives," says the proposed Office of Personnel Management rule, which was introduced in a different iteration during Trump's first term and revived through an executive order this year. It is now open for comment until June 7. Related video The move would ease the way for additional cuts to the federal workforce after the Trump administration's first major round of federal firings in February faced legal challenges and resulted in many workers getting reinstated. "I do expect to be Schedule F at some point. Personally, it's totally bullshit," a current Social Security Administration manager said. "This gets into the whole history of the civil service and the politicization of civil service, and whether as a public policy you think that's a smart idea or not; I do not." From career civil servant to policymaker Some advocates for changing civil service status have pointed toward reducing administrative bloat, or federal bureaucrats wielding too much power. Two Republicans — Senators Eric Schmitt and Rick Scott — introduced a bill in 2023 that would make all executive branch workers at-will, saying that the current system disincentivizes efficiency while rewarding mediocrity. "President Trump was overwhelmingly elected in November to shake up Washington—and that starts with holding unelected government bureaucrats accountable," Schmitt said in a statement to BI. Similarly, the House-passed iteration of what Trump called his "big beautiful bill" would offer federal workers the option of opting in to at-will employment in exchange for having to pay less into retirement funds. At-will federal employees would function more like political appointees, who typically turn over when a new presidential administration takes office. Career civil servants, on the other hand, who do things like man Social Security phone lines or work IT for government websites, have certain protections so they can carry on with their work, regardless of which political party is in charge. The proposed rule has garnered over 16,000 comments, and the comment period has been extended by two weeks. For context, Webb Lyons, the former general counsel at OPM during the Biden-Harris administration, said that a Biden-era rule on civil service protections garnered 4,000 comments — "by far the most comments that we received on any regulation while I was at OPM for almost four years," he said. Next, the agency will review comments and finalize the rule. If it resembles the current proposal, it could represent a seismic shift. "This would be an unprecedented rollback of protections that were intended to ensure a non-partisan civil service can balance those interests of the President with their duty to uphold the Constitution and follow the law," Devin O'Connor, a senior fellow at CBPP and former White House Senior Advisor, said. A glimpse into what that could mean for the Social Security Administration There's already been a sneak peek into what the new classification, called "Schedule Policy/Career," would look like at the Social Security Administration. A mid-April memo seen by Business Insider from the previous acting commissioner at the SSA, Leland Dudek, outlined plans to reclassify large swaths of the agency's workers as Schedule P/C. Related stories Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know The left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said the order would cover around 10,000 positions across the agency, including workers in roles like evaluating disability benefits applications and maintaining information technology. As of 2024, CBPP said, around 19 positions were classified as political appointees at SSA. "With Social Security, the sort of unofficial mission that people talk about every day is get the right check to the right person at the right time. That's a very apolitical job," Kathleen Romig, the director of Social Security and disability policy at CBPP and an SSA alum, said. Romig said that the proposed changes across SSA are a "broad brush." There's also the question of whether a mass reclassification could face an uphill legal battle: A brief from Elisa Walker, a senior fellow at the National Academy of Social Insurance and an SSA alum, found that the reclassifications may run afoul of a provision in the Social Security Act that stipulates the agency can have no more than 20 full-time roles that are policy-making. "Congress specifically built in these kinds of protections to keep the agency by and large nonpolitical. I think that context is really important," Walker said. "That is exactly why they wrote this provision — to prevent this kind of short-term politicization of the agency." The Social Security administration said in a comment that it is "committed to protecting Social Security and eliminating fraud, waste, and abuse in the federal government." "Some in the media have erroneously reported that SSA's optimization effort includes terminating employees in non-mission critical positions," the agency said. "However, this is not true. In fact, the number of SSA employees involuntarily removed from federal service so far this fiscal year amounts to one-tenth of one percent of our total employees." Romig said the threat of getting fired or having to toe the party line could also impact how SSA employees approach their work or how safe they feel expressing their views. One SSA worker who's been with the agency for 30 years echoed that concern: "I think everyone realizes that that means that since you are a political appointee, you could also just be let go with little or no protection or ability to fight against that. So one misstep and you could be gone." Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at jkaplan@ or Signal at julianakaplan.33. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump Backlash as Civil Service Feedback Curses Him With Camel Fleas
The Trump administration has been swamped by angry civil servants outraged over plans to make it easier for Donald Trump to fire federal workers. More than a million members of the public have written to the administration after it sought feedback on a proposal to reclassify tens of thousands of career federal government staff and make it easier to sack them. And much of the feedback wasn't flattering. 'May the fleas of a million camels infest your armpits, privates and all your toadies,' one observer, Carol Black, wrote, referencing an Arabic curse while the president was touring the Middle East. 'No president should have this much power,' said another outraged submission by Leah Veldhuisen on April 21. 'This is why the US has a president and not a king!!' 'A total disaster,' wrote Kevin Struhle in one of this week's public comments. 'There aren't words to describe how bad this initiative is.' The push to strip federal workers of their civil service protections began after Trump resumed office, when he issued an executive order reinstating a category of political appointees known as 'Schedule F'. This schedule would specifically relate to people in senior policy-making roles who would be easier to fire if they are believed to be performing poorly or 'subverting Presidential directives.' The idea was taken directly from Project 2025 - a Heritage Foundation presidential transition blueprint that Trump repeatedly denied knowing anything about when he was campaigning for office. However, several of its architects and co-authors are now employed in the White House, including his deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, and Office of Management and Budget director Russell Vought. Trump, aided by his allies and DOGE slasher-in-chief Elon Musk, has long said he wants to 'dismantle' the bureaucracy and weed out what he believes are 'rogue bureaucrats.' 'If these government workers refuse to advance the policy interests of the President, or are engaging in corrupt behavior, they should no longer have a job,' Trump wrote in a post about the proposed rule on his Truth Social platform last month. The Office of Personnel Management, which is overseeing the plan, estimates that about 50,000 positions will be reclassified by the new rule. 'This will allow agencies to quickly remove employees from critical positions who engage in misconduct, perform poorly, or undermine the democratic process by intentionally subverting Presidential directives,' it says on its website. Regulatory changes generally require a period of public comment before they can be finalized. As of yesterday, the office had received 1,031,126 comments from the public and had extended the deadline for submissions to June 4. Some of the submissions were supportive of the president's plan and agreed that it ought to be easier to sack certain workers and 'bring accountability to the federal bureaucracy.' 'For too long, unelected career bureaucrats in the federal government have stifled efficiency by undermining the plans and policies of the Chief Executive,' said a submission from Gerald Helton, in what appeared to be a template comment as it was repeated verbatim in many other submissions. 'I support President Trump's work to rein in unaccountable bureaucrats and end the Deep State!' But others were far more critical, warning that the changes would diminish federal programs, leave subsequent administrations to deal with the fallout, and potentially cost taxpayers millions to rehire new workers every time there was a change of president. 'These issues are so obvious that one is led to believe the abuse of power is the goal rather than side-effect,' read another angry submission.
