Latest news with #federalAgencies
E&E News
09-07-2025
- Politics
- E&E News
Supreme Court allows Trump layoffs to continue
The Supreme Court on Tuesday handed the Trump administration a victory, overturning a lower court decision that paused layoff plans across much of the government. The unsigned order issued by the court stayed the preliminary injunction put in place by a federal judge in California in May, which halted the administration's plans to lay off employees and restructure federal agencies. The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to intervene, contending that the district court's injunction 'bars nearly the entire Executive Branch' — including 19 agencies and 11 Cabinet departments — from moving forward with plans to 'execute lawful reductions in the size of the federal workforce.' Advertisement The Supreme Court said that the district court's injunction 'was based on its view that' a White House executive order and a memo implementing that executive order 'are unlawful. Because the Government is likely to succeed on its argument that the Executive Order and Memorandum are lawful — and because the other factors bearing on whether to grant a stay are satisfied — we grant the application.' The Supreme Court order said the justices expressed no view on the legality of agency layoffs or reorganization plans themselves, which are not before the court. The injunction came after employee unions, environmentalists and others sued the administration, contending that it was illegally slashing the government without the necessary support from Congress. 'Today's decision has dealt a serious blow to our democracy and puts services that the American people rely on in grave jeopardy,' the coalition of groups that brought the lawsuit said Tuesday in a joint statement. 'This decision does not change the simple and clear fact that reorganizing government functions and laying off federal workers en masse haphazardly without any congressional approval is not allowed by our Constitution.' Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson issued a dissent, saying the lower court decision to impose a 'temporary, practical, harm-reducing preservation of the status quo was no match for this Court's demonstrated enthusiasm for greenlighting this President's legally dubious actions in an emergency posture.' Reporters Niina Farah and Lesley Clark contributed.
Gizmodo
25-06-2025
- Politics
- Gizmodo
Trump Reportedly Cuts Funding for Publisher of Prestigious Nature Journals and Scientific American Magazine
The staff break rooms within federal agencies like the National Institutes of Health may soon get a lot less interesting. According to a report from Axios, the Trump administration has canceled funding and contracts to Springer Nature, including payments for subscriptions to the company's publications, which include the magazine Scientific American and prominent peer-reviewed research journals under the Nature portfolio. Per Axios, the total contract cuts amount to millions worth of funding for Springer Nature. According to data compiled via USA Spending, the open data source of federal spending information, Springer Nature currently has 19 active contracts with federal agencies, including a $5.2 million contract to provide subscriptions to the company's portfolios of journals. Springer Nature declined to comment when contacted by Gizmodo. Trump's attack on Springer shouldn't come as too much of a shock. Earlier this year, the Department of Justice sent letters to medical journals for being 'partisan' in the eyes of the administration, in part for promoting 'woke' science, like saying climate change is real or that trans people exist. Prior reports indicated that CHEST, a peer-reviewed publication on pulmonary care published by the American College of Chest Physicians, as well as several other publications, received threatening letters accusing them of publishing work influenced by 'advertisement (under postal code) or sponsorship (under relevant fraud regulations).' Springer received a letter as well, per Axios. In addition to questioning the editorial practices of the publisher, it also alleged that Springer had ties to China and was censoring information at the behest of the Chinese Communist Party. Around the same time, Donald Trump Jr. called for the Department of Government Efficiency to end contracts with Springer Nature because it 'pushed gender insanity.' Attacking Springer for publishing legitimate research that doesn't match the preferred positions of the administration is a pretty terrible reason to cut off access to the information provided by the company's wealth of journals. But Springer is not without its issues. In 2017, the company was accused of restricting access to some research in China, and has issued tons of retractions of research in recent years due to issues with its peer-review process. For what it's worth, most of those threatening letters from the DOJ were signed by then US Attorney Ed Martin, who also threatened to investigate people who criticized Elon Musk and threatened to pull Wikipedia's nonprofit status. Martin resigned from that role last month (and handed over the reins to Fox News host Jeanine Pirro of all people). Not much has come from those threats thus far, though they undoubtedly have a chilling effect on the publishers that received them, as any legal challenge from the government would surely be drawn out and expensive.
The Independent
02-06-2025
- Business
- The Independent
DOGE promised to make government more efficient. Workers say they are wasting more time than ever
Staff across federal agencies said that red tape implemented by the Department of Government Efficiency is wasting more time than ever. Workers at 19 agencies revealed how sweeping changes brought in by DOGE — Elon Musk 's team that pledged to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse — have instead resulted in delays for the most basic transactions and projects put on hold for months, The Washington Post reports. 'People are so demoralized, anxious and sleep deprived,' a NASA employee told the outlet. 'Nobody is working at top efficiency.' Employees at the State Department, Social Security Administration, National Institutes of Health and the Federal Aviation Administration were among those feeling the strain as DOGE laid off staff and brought in new hurdles, impacting financial and policy protocols. One staffer at the State Department told The Post that hiring an international vendor for an event required multiple layers of additional sign off because of the administration's requirement to eradicate diversity, equity and inclusion from government. The vendor refused to sign paperwork confirming that it did not promote DEI, resulting in the staffer having to go through several rounds of sign-off to secure the contract. The process would have typically taken a day but instead took an entire week, according to the outlet. In response, the State Department told The Post that it would 'never apologize for putting processes in place to ensure taxpayer dollars are used correctly.' While many federal workers told the newspaper they supported scrutiny of how the government spends taxpayer money, the reality was running 'counter to the goal of efficiency.' An employee at the Federal Aviation Authority said that the new process for payment systems means that staff must now write statements justifying all expenditures, from bigger expenses to ordering pens and pencils. It has slowed down the process of getting windows cleaned at air traffic control towers, the employee said. Purchase orders that would take 15 to 20 minutes now take up to 2 hours. 'These are things that people don't think about, but clean windows are crucial for controllers,' the employee told the outlet. Meanwhile at some parts of the National Institutes of Health, one staffer revealed that grants must be fed through an AI tool to detect references to 'DEI, transgender, China or vaccine hesitancy.' Staff must also check that grant recipients are not on the list of institutions that President Donald Trump has targeted, including Harvard, Changes at the Social Security Administration pushed through by DOGE are also causing 'chaos' after the team reassigned central-office workers to take lower-level positions, according to The Post. In February, the agency outlined plans to cut 7,000 jobs. Staff are 'overburdened' as they have reportedly been taken off normal duties in order to train new staffers. 'You now have half the staff with very little knowledge of how to do the work,' a relocated staffer told the outlet. 'And the other half of staff overwhelmed with work and unable to really train or mentor these new folks.' The agency said that the reassignment of approximately 2,000 staff 'has not caused disruptions.' A statement said the reassignment of the staffers would 'further accelerate the progress the agency is making.' Responding to the claims made in The Post 's reporting, White House spokesman Harrison Fields said that 'President Trump is curbing government waste and reforming a system that has long burdened American taxpayers' through DOGE. 'Anyone resistant to these critical reforms has had ample opportunity to step aside, but the work of DOGE will press forward unobstructed,' he added.
Reuters
29-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Trump administration bans use of race, sex data in federal hiring
May 29 (Reuters) - The Trump administration told federal agencies on Thursday to halt the use of statistics on race, sex, ethnicity or national origin in the hiring process, marking its latest effort to extinguish use of diversity, equity and inclusion programs. The directive was part of a broader set of guidelines sent to human resources leaders at government agencies fleshing out an executive order, opens new tab signed by President Donald Trump in January aimed at "restoring merit" to the center of the hiring process. All hiring and promotion decisions must be based "solely on merit, qualifications and job-related criteria — not race, sex, color, religion, or national origin," the memo from the Office of Personnel Management on Thursday said. The memo further ordered human resources leaders to "cease using statistics on race, sex, ethnicity or national origin, or the broader concept of 'underrepresentation' of certain groups," in relation to recruiting or hiring. The memo also said dissemination of such data was banned. The directive is the latest move by Trump to undermine diversity and inclusion programs, many of which have been in place for decades in an effort to remedy historical injustices for marginalized groups. Trump and his allies have called such programs anti-merit and discriminatory against white people and men. Advocates and experts have said racial or gender data collection, which has long been a standard across the federal government and many private sector U.S. companies, is a necessary tool to identify inequities or potential discrimination within hiring practices. The OPM memo also said government agencies have been too focused "on elite universities and credentials, instead of merit, practical skill, and commitment to American ideals." In addition to hiring veterans and individuals with backgrounds in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, agencies should recruit more young people from state universities, religious colleges, trade schools, faith organizations and homeschooling groups, the memo says. "Going forward, agencies shall ensure that early career recruitment focuses on patriotic Americans who will faithfully adhere to the Constitution and the rule of law," the memo says.
Fast Company
27-05-2025
- Business
- Fast Company
The return-to-office mandate is here. So is the open office. One has to go.
It's official: The era of remote work flexibility is over. From Fortune 100 companies to federal agencies, employees are being summoned back to office towers and cubicles under sweeping return-to-work (RTO) mandates. According to a January 2025 survey by Resume Builder, nine in ten companies will require workers back in the office by the end of the year, with 30% already enforcing full five-day, in-office schedules. The problem? We've failed to consider what employees lose when they leave their home workspaces behind. The office doesn't just move—it takes away employees' control over their environment. At home, employees discovered something revolutionary: control. They could adjust the lighting. Lower the noise. Choose their chair, temperature, background music, and even the scent of their workspace. For the first time, people could truly customize their environment to optimize their productivity. And it worked. Studies show employees working from home report lower stress, better focus, and higher productivity. But when they return to standardized open layouts complete with bright overhead lights, echoing voices, and a one-size-fits-all desk, they don't just lose flexibility; they lose the ability to perform at their best. For neurodiverse individuals, the consequences are even more acute. People with sensory sensitivities and learning differences such as ADHD, autism, anxiety, and dyslexia may find traditional offices overwhelming, disorienting, even paralyzing. In fact, 40% of neurodiverse individuals remain unemployed, often because the workspace itself is the barrier. A few years ago, I walked into a client's office and saw rows of open desks, bright overhead lighting, people chatting all around, and I instantly thought, 'There's no way I could work here.' As someone with dyslexia and ADHD, these environments have always been a challenge. I used to spend hours trying to find quiet corners, using noise-canceling headphones just to focus, or even working odd hours at home where I could control my space. That was a lightbulb moment for me: The modern office isn't designed for everyone—and certainly not for people like me. We talk a lot about square footage, seating charts, and collaboration spaces, but rarely do we talk about airflow, acoustics, texture, or privacy control. Yet these are the levers that most directly affect how people feel and perform at work. And research backs this up: Biophilic design —the integration of natural elements like plants, wood textures, and natural light— reduces stress by 30% and boosts cognitive function by 15%. Adjustable lighting and noise levels help people maintain focus, especially those with sensory sensitivities. Personalized workspaces help employees stay more engaged, more productive, and twice as likely to stay with their employer. These aren't luxury features. They are performance infrastructure that unlock human potential. IF YOU WANT A PEACEFUL AND EFFICIENT TRANSITION BACK TO OFFICE, GIVE EMPLOYEES CONTROL Return-to-office doesn't have to be a loss. It can be a gain. But only if we rethink how the office functions. It's time to move away from rigid, standardized layouts and instead design environments that adapt to the employee—not the other way around. That means letting go of the idea that more desks equals more work, or that open layouts naturally lead to collaboration. In reality, employees need environments that help them stay focused, manage stress, and feel comfortable being themselves. We've spent the last five years learning what people need to be productive. They need flexibility, sensory awareness, and control over their space. Ignoring those lessons now won't bring back the old office culture—it will just breed resentment and churn. Let's stop asking workers to leave their best work conditions behind. Instead, let's meet them halfway with offices that reflect what we've learned: Control is not a perk—it's a prerequisite for performance. As we usher in a new era of work, let's not default to old environments. Let's create spaces where everyone—not just the neurotypical, not just the extroverts—can thrive. Because when we design for the extreme, we uplift the mean.
