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American Thinker, by Thomas Lifson — 1/15/2019
Excerpt:
Has President Trump suckered Democrats and the Deep State into a trap that will enable a radical downsizing of the federal bureaucracy? In only five more days of the already “longest government shutdown in history” (25 days and counting, as of today), a heretofore obscure threshold will be reached, enabling permanent layoffs of bureaucrats furloughed 30 days or more.
Don’t believe me that federal bureaucrats can be laid off? Well, in bureaucratese, a layoff is called a RIF – a Reduction in Force – and of course, it comes with a slew of civil service protections. But, if the guidelines are followed, bureaucrats can be laid off – as in no more job. It is all explained by Michael Roberts here (updated after the beginning of the partial shutdown):
A reduction in force is a thoughtful and systematic elimination of positions. For all practical purposes, a government RIF is the same thing as a layoff. …
Organizations must stick to predetermined criteria when sorting out what happens to each employee. They must communicate with employees how and why decisions are made. …
In deciding who stays and who goes, federal agencies must take four factors into account:
1. Tenure
2. Veteran status
3. Total federal civilian and military service
4. Performance
Agencies cannot use RIF procedures to fire bad employees.
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View the complete article including links an comments at:
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/01/trumps_shutdown_trap.html
OMB issues guidance on Reduction in Force layoffs due to partial shutdown
American Thinker
by Thomas Lifson
1/16/2019
Excerpt:
A new statement from the Office of Management and Budget provides cold comfort for federal bureaucrats worried that furloughs during the partial shutdown could become permanent layoffs, as long as Democrats refuse to give in and fund the border barrier.
There will be no immediate layoffs (what the federal government calls reductions-in-force – or RIFs) if and when the current partial shutdown passes the 30 day mark in 4 more days. As I explained yesterday in Trump’s shutdown trap?, federal law requires RIFs when federal employees are furloughed more than 30 days.
But after the matter was raised and widely discussed, the OMB issued a statement that indicates it would require an actual reorganization plan that would make furloughed positions permanently identified as unnecessary, in order for the furloughs to be RIFed. …………………………….
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This emphatically does not rule out the shutdown trap hypothesis that I presented. It will take some time for reorganization plans to be prepared, but once they are revealed after the 30 day deadline is reached, the “shutdown furloughs” become “administrative furloughs,” and the RIF layoffs are possible.
As the anonymous Senior Trump Administration official that I quoted yesterday noted, in the absence of bureaucrats with time on their hands and no inclination to help the Trump agenda, a lot is getting accomplished. As that process continues, after the 30-day mark is reached it will be possible to create a downsizing plan, identifying units that could easily get by with a fraction of their current staff, or even be reorganized out of existence.
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View the complete article including links and comments at:
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/01/omb_issues_guidance_on_reduction_in_force_layoffs_due_to_partial_shutdown.html