Latest news with #firings
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Supreme Court allows Trump to remove 3 Democrats on the Consumer Product Safety Commission
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed the Trump administration to remove three Democratic members of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, who had been fired by President Donald Trump and then reinstated by a federal judge. The justices acted on an emergency appeal from the Justice Department, which argued that the agency is under Trump's control and the president is free to remove commissioners without cause. The three liberal justices dissented. The commission helps protect consumers from dangerous products by issuing recalls, suing errant companies and more. Trump fired the three Democrats on the five-member commission in May. They were serving seven-year terms after being nominated by President Joe Biden. U.S. District Judge Matthew Maddox in Baltimore ruled in June that the dismissals were unlawful. Maddox sought to distinguish the commission's role from those of other agencies where the Supreme Court has allowed firings to go forward. A month earlier, the high court's conservative majority declined to reinstate members of the National Labor Relations Board and the Merit Systems Protection Board, finding that the Constitution appears to give the president the authority to fire the board members 'without cause.' The three liberal justices dissented. The administration has argued that all the agencies are under Trump's control as the head of the executive branch. Maddox, a Biden nominee, noted that it can be difficult to characterize the product safety commission's functions as purely executive. The fight over the president's power to fire could prompt the court to consider overturning a 90-year-old Supreme Court decision known as Humphrey's Executor. In that case from 1935, the court unanimously held that presidents cannot fire independent board members without cause. The decision ushered in an era of powerful independent federal agencies charged with regulating labor relations, employment discrimination, the airwaves and much else. But it has long rankled conservative legal theorists who argue the modern administrative state gets the Constitution all wrong because such agencies should answer to the president. The Consumer Product Safety Commission was created in 1972. Its five members must maintain a partisan split, with no more than three representing the president's party. They serve staggered terms. That structure ensures that each president has 'the opportunity to influence, but not control,' the commission, attorneys for the fired commissioners wrote in court filings. They argued the recent terminations could jeopardize the commission's independence. ___ Mark Sherman, The Associated Press Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
DOJ rocked by wave of Trump firings
The Justice Department has been rocked by a wave of recent firings, a sign the administration is not done culling the ranks of career officials as it seeks to shape the department under a second Trump term. Maurene Comey, a New York-based federal prosecutor and the daughter of the former FBI director, was fired Wednesday without explanation. And news broke this week that the Justice Department also fired immigration court Judge Jennifer Peyton, who served as head of the Chicago immigration court system, shortly after the jurist gave a tour to Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), ranking member of the Judiciary Committee. Those firings come on the heels of the dismissal of at least 20 staffers who worked under special counsel Jack Smith, a group that includes not only attorneys but also support staff and even U.S. Marshals. Attorney General Pam Bondi last week also fired the top career ethics official at the department, Joseph Tirrell, the latest in a string of ethics officials pushed out under President Trump. 'Every time I think we're at some point when the firings are over, there's another wave. So I would predict we'll see more,' said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. 'It's more dedicated career professionals being given walking papers when they really deserve to be elevated and empowered. And to fire the ethics attorney, I think, speaks volumes about where she's taking the department,' Blumenthal said. Justice Connection, a network of the department's alumni dedicated to protecting 'colleagues who are under attack,' estimate that more than 200 employees have been terminated at DOJ, a figure that includes firings at the FBI and other agencies, as well as prosecutors that worked on the cases of Jan. 6 rioters at the U.S. Attorney's Office in D.C. 'The senseless terminations at the Justice Department are growing exponentially. The very institution created to enforce the law is trampling over the civil service laws enacted by Congress. It's shameful, and it's devastating the workforce,' Stacey Young, executive director and founder of the group, said in a statement to The Hill 'DOJ leadership is making clear the ability to keep your job is not tied to your performance, your expertise, or your commitment to uphold and defend the Constitution. Those who remain at the department are now worried about how to uphold their professional ethical standards when it seems that their willingness to do whatever they are ordered matters more than any other aspect of their work.' The Justice Department declined to comment on personnel matters. Many of the attorneys that were fired have received brief letters saying they were terminated under the authority of the second article of the constitution, the one that establishes the presidency. A letter from Comey to her colleagues referenced the guiding ethos of the Justice Department: to pursue cases 'without fear or favor.' 'Our focus was really on acting 'without favor.' That is, making sure people with access, money, and power were not treated differently than anyone else; and making sure this office remained separate from politics and focused only on the facts and the law,' Comey said in the memo, adding, 'but we have entered a new phase where 'without fear' may be the challenge.' In the case of Peyton, Durbin said he sees a direct line between the tour she gave him – something he called a routine oversight visit – and her termination. 'Judge Peyton took time to show me the court and explain its functions. Soon after, she received an email from Department of Justice political appointees. The email claimed that immigration judges should not directly communicate with members of Congress and congressional staff and required all communications from congressional offices to be forwarded to headquarters for review and response,' Durbin said in a Tuesday email. 'Judge Peyton was fired soon after. Her abrupt termination is an abuse of power by the Administration to punish a non-political judge simply for doing her job.' On Smith's team, the recent firings make for at least 37 staffers who have been dismissed, according to Reuters. And on the ethics front, beyond Terrill, Jeffrey Ragsdale, the head of the Office of Professional Responsibility, which reviews the conduct of attorneys in the department, was fired in March. Brad Weinsheimer, another top ethics official, resigned after he was reassigned to a new working group focused on cracking down on sanctuary cities. Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), also a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he sees two primary patterns. 'This is Pam Bondi attempting to go after all the president's perceived political enemies, to go after dedicated prosecutors who brought cases successfully to conviction. It's also part of the broader effort to completely rewrite history about Jan. 6,' he told The Hill, adding that he expects more firing of those 'deemed insufficiently pro-MAGA.' He then listed a string of officials inside and outside of DOJ that have been fired under Trump, including the heads of the Office of the Special Counsel and the Office of Government Ethics. 'They seem to be doing everything they can to eviscerate any kind of watchdog or ethical oversight – clearly part of a pattern of trying to eliminate all accountability,' said Schiff, who sent a letter to Bondi this week asking for more details on Terrill's firings and plans to comply with ethics guidelines at the department. Beyond the firings, many Justice Department lawyers have left the department of their own accord, with several sharing with The Hill they feared being asked to do something illegal or would be forced to defend unlawful actions. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said the result is a culture of fear at the Justice Department. 'The Department of Justice is now a joke. When you look at the history of a once storied and legendary department, Pam Bondi has defined her job as doing whatever Donald Trump wants. She's completely sycophantic and subservient. And there may be some lawyers still left in the building who are trying to do their jobs in an honest way consistent with professional ethics, but everything has been supported, subordinated to the political will of Donald Trump,' he told The Hill. 'It's a tough thing for the real lawyers who are still there, and they express a lot of fear and anxiety about where the DOJ is going.' He added that some Republican colleagues, largely former prosecutors, have privately expressed concern over the firings. 'I have had Republican colleagues who were former federal prosecutors telling me privately that they are absolutely appalled that United States assistant attorneys are being fired because they worked on the January 6 case,' Raskin said. 'Think about the implications of that. People are being fired for doing their jobs well, and their job was bringing cases against people who violently assaulted federal police officers,' he said. But that concern was not publicly shared by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the chair of the panel. 'I have confidence in President Trump, confidence in his team at the Justice Department, if that's what they think is in the best interest of fulfilling their mission, that's their call,' he told The Hill. 'I don't know this particulars about each individual, but if that's what the attorney general believes is in the best interest of the Justice Department's mission, that's fine.' Comey and Terrill both addressed morale in letters to their colleagues. Comey said unjustified firings mean 'fear may seep into the decisions of those who remain.' 'Do not let that happen. Fear is the tool of a tyrant, wielded to suppress independent thought. Instead of fear, let this moment fuel the fire that already burns at the heart of this place. A fire of righteous indignation at abuses of power. Of commitment to seek justice for victims. Of dedication to truth above all else,' she wrote. Terrill, too, hinted at a call to action from colleagues. 'I believe in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. – 'the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice,'' he wrote in a post on LinkedIn that included his brief termination notice. 'I also believe that Edmund Burke is right and that 'the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Washington Post
5 days ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
Trump's DOJ has fired dozens of prosecutors, upending decades-old norm
The Department of Justice under the Trump administration has fired dozens of career prosecutors during the past six months, making the dismissal of federal attorneys — generally a move reserved for cases of misconduct — almost commonplace. The dismissals often came without warning and have affected more than 40 prosecutors, based on reporting by The Washington Post and a tally of public information. The total number of lawyers, agents and support staff DOJ has fired since the administration began in January includes dozens more people, according to Justice Connection, an advocacy group for former Justice Department employees. The group estimates that more than 200 career employees have been fired across the department and its component agencies, which include the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Among those fired was federal prosecutor Maurene Comey, the daughter of former FBI director James B. Comey, who lost her job Wednesday. The reason for her firing was not immediately clear. She had worked on high-profile matters such as the criminal cases of Jeffrey Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell and the recent trial of Sean Combs, the music mogul known as Diddy. Others the Justice Department dismissed include career attorneys who worked on the prosecutions of Trump and those who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. A spokesperson for the Justice Department offered no comment on the firings but noted the agency expects to save $470 million after more than 4,000 employees accepted buyout offers. The terminations have alarmed staff members and observers who worry that agency officials are engaged in a broad campaign to erode civil service protections, bolster the political interests of the president and weaken the rule of law. The firings — often made without explanation — aren't normal. Prosecutors and other federal employees are typically fired only when they do something improper or fail to perform their duties. ''Unusual' is the wrong word — it's unheard of,' said Max Stier, president of the Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit group focused on strengthening the federal workforce. Some former prosecutors and experts say the departures have weakened the Justice Department's front lines, prompted other prosecutors to leave on their own and rattled those who remain. They question the legality of the firings and say the administration's approach risks creating a Justice Department stacked with a mix of loyalists and workers too cowed to speak up when they see improprieties. After she was fired, Comey told her former colleagues not to succumb to fear. 'Fear is the tool of a tyrant, wielded to suppress independent thought,' she wrote in a note to them. 'Instead of fear, let this moment fuel the fire that already burns at the heart of this place. A fire of righteous indignation at abuses of power.' The firings account for only a small portion of the departures from the Justice Department, where many more have resigned or retired after they were demoted or moved into different jobs, according to employees and former employees. The National Association of Assistant U.S. Attorneys said in a statement the firings 'will make it far more difficult for DOJ to recruit and retain qualified attorneys, inhibit employees from executing their constitutional duties out of fear of reprisal, and will ultimately make our society less fair, safe, and secure.' If unchecked, the situation could lead future presidents to throw out hundreds of prosecutors and replace them with supporters, creating an amped-up version of the spoils system of the 1800s that allowed presidents to stock government offices with their supporters, analysts said. In 1883, Congress created a system to hire employees based on merit and prevent their firing for political reasons after a disgruntled job seeker assassinated President James Garfield two years earlier. 'If [prosecutors] are there simply to please the boss, then I think we are entering a dangerous time,' said Barbara McQuade, a University of Michigan law professor who was U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan under President Barack Obama. Former prosecutor Michael Gordon said he was given a stellar job review two days before he was fired this year. While he was preparing a witness for trial shortly before 5 p.m. on a Friday, he was handed a sheet of paper saying he was being let go without explanation. He was taken aback but instinctively knew why: He was among the prosecutors who had worked on the Jan. 6 cases. 'What's shocking is that the Department of Justice — the part of the government that's supposed to uphold the law — is instead openly defying it, openly thumbing its nose at the very laws that it's supposed to enforce,' he said. 'They're prioritizing revenge over public safety.' President George W. Bush faced accusations of injecting politics into prosecutors' offices when his administration ousted nine of the U.S. attorneys he had appointed. The controversy then was over politically appointed officials who serve at the pleasure of the president — not the rank-and-file prosecutors who now find themselves at risk. Career prosecutors hold extraordinary power. They can destroy reputations by simply issuing grand jury subpoenas. They can seek to put people away for years or, in the ultimate act of government authority, pursue taking away someone's life as a form of punishment. 'If the public doesn't trust that those decisions are being made on an apolitical basis, then it does harm to the institution,' said Paul Charlton, the U.S. attorney in Arizona who was fired under Bush. An internal Justice Department review found the agency used a flawed and arbitrary process to drive out Charlton and other U.S. attorneys. But those experiences are 'nothing like' the recent dismissals of career prosecutors, said Carol Lam, a former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California who was part of the Bush-era purge. Prosecutors now have to worry about their work being undermined at every stage, she said. 'Even if you were allowed to start the case, would you be able to continue it with this person then to be given a blanket pardon?' she asked. It used to be that rank-and-file DOJ lawyers could do the job, she said, and the department would stand behind them as long as they acted ethically. 'That no longer is the case,' Lam said. 'Now the criteria is: Is this going to help the president or not?' 'You don't take an oath of allegiance to the administration or the president of the United States,' she added. 'This disruption of that ethical standard means that this Department of Justice bears no resemblance of what it was before.' The recent firings range from top-level career officials overseeing key Justice Department divisions to line prosecutors in far-flung U.S. attorneys' offices around the country who caught the attention of Trump or his political appointees. Adam Schleifer, an assistant U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, was fired in March after his work on a case against Fatburger founder Andrew Wiederhorn drew the ire of Trump confidante and MAGA influencer Laura Loomer, who advocated for Schleifer's termination online. He was fired via an email from the White House, and is now challenging his dismissal with the Merit Systems Protection Board. That same weekend, the department fired Reagan Fondren, a career attorney in Memphis, who'd been elevated to lead the U.S. attorney's office there on an acting basis. No explanation was given. Some have described their terminations in posts on social media. 'It was a shock,' Adam Cohen, the former head of a key Justice Department task force overseeing drug and gang investigations, wrote on LinkedIn. He was fired in March, 18 hours after officials sent out a memo he'd prepared bearing the deputy attorney general's signature, he said. Joseph Tirrell, the department's senior ethics attorney, was fired last week. He wrote in a note announcing his departure on LinkedIn that the oath he took as a prosecutor 'did not come with the caveat that I need only support the Constitution when it is easy or convenient.' In recent instances, the Justice Department is telling prosecutors they are being let go under Article II, the part of the Constitution that vests the power of the executive branch in the president. Mark Zaid, an attorney representing some of the fired Justice Department employees, described Trump's view of Article II authority as, 'I'm the king. You all work for me — not anymore.' Trump has taken an expansive view of his powers knowing many of the Supreme Court justices share that sentiment. Zaid, who has been working in employment law for more than 30 years, said he's seen nothing like the recent firings across the federal government. 'All they did was their job, just like they did all prior years in multiple administrations, oftentimes during the first Trump administration,' he said. 'And now all of a sudden, they're guilty of something, which is usually associational.' Observers raised the prospect that Trump's approach could thrust the government back more than 100 years, when a patronage system rewarded political allies with jobs and punished political opponents by taking away their livelihoods. Stier, of the Partnership for Public Service, said the dangers were much higher now because of the threats of nuclear war, cyberattacks and environmental disasters. 'We aren't in the 19th century,' he said. 'We are actually in a world that is so much more dangerous, complicated, faster-moving than the 19th century that the implications of a spoils system are a lot larger for us.' Perry Stein and Spencer S. Hsu contributed to this report.
Yahoo
17-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
US CFTC begins staff firings, agency source says
By Chris Prentice (Reuters) -The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Wednesday began staff firings that are expected to affect over two dozen people, according to an agency source, after the Supreme Court last week cleared the way for mass government firings. Employees from the CFTC's enforcement, market oversight, administration and data divisions are expected to be affected as part of a more general reorganization at the regulator, the source said. Trump, until recently alongside his now former special adviser Elon Musk, had called for a reshaping of the federal government workforce including a purge of workers. The CFTC had 636 full-time equivalent staff positions in fiscal 2025, according to an agency report. The regulator has also recently reduced significant numbers of staff through a series of voluntary resignation programs that were also offered in other agencies. Under acting Chair Caroline Pham, a Republican, the agency has rolled out a series of changes, including reorganizing its enforcement division. Solve the daily Crossword
Reuters
17-07-2025
- Business
- Reuters
US CFTC begins staff firings, agency source says
July 16 (Reuters) - The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Wednesday began staff firings that are expected to affect over two dozen people, according to an agency source, after the Supreme Court last week cleared the way for mass government firings. Employees from the CFTC's enforcement, market oversight, administration and data divisions are expected to be affected as part of a more general reorganization at the regulator, the source said. Trump, until recently alongside his now former special adviser Elon Musk, had called for a reshaping of the federal government workforce including a purge of workers. The CFTC had 636 full-time equivalent staff positions in fiscal 2025, according to an agency report. The regulator has also recently reduced significant numbers of staff through a series of voluntary resignation programs that were also offered in other agencies. Under acting Chair Caroline Pham, a Republican, the agency has rolled out a series of changes, including reorganizing its enforcement division.
