Probationary

[Pete F.]

Keep hearing that DOGE is just getting rid of probationary employees like they are new hires, actually if you get promoted you become a probationary employee.
Here’s what it means and you ought to think about it if you’re planning a flight.

“Dear Senator
I am writing as a constituent, former FAA air traffic controller (26 years) and current Airline Transport rated commercial pilot. On Friday, hundreds of FAA technicians and engineers were terminated. These technicians and engineers maintain every piece of equipment that keeps flying safe, from the radars to the ILS, to ATC automation. They were identified as "probationary" and there is a reasonable speculation that Al was used to "find" probationary employees, assuming that meant that they were new hires. That is not an accurate assumption. A newly hired federal employee is probationary and may be subject to at will termination, but the term
"probationary" is also applied to promotions, to describe not that you are a probationary employee, but if the promotion or transfer is not successful, the employee would return to the pre-promotion position. That allows the government to retain the training and needed expertise.
However, even that is not the case in these positions as workers were indeed succeeding in their new roles.
FAA technicians undergo years of specialized training to maintain mission critical systems and cannot be replaced quickly. In the 30 years since I began my controller career, we have never had a surplus of technicians and engineers. To the contrary, it is a challenge to keep these jobs filled.
Once our aviation safety infrastructure is compromised, it will take decades to bring it back. Money will not be saved and lives may be lost.
We need your help to raise attention to this issue and use whatever tools of checks and balances available to undo this reckless action.
Sincerely,
Dylan Sullivan

[wdmso]

This is what happens when you have basement dwellers who are book smart but lack any real world experience or common sense.


And have been told to find key words. Like.

Probation and fire them based on that criteria

It’s just a dog and pony show.

It’s not saving money. It’s putting Americans in the unemployment line
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[spence]

Pretty scary that Musk’s latest illegal email blast doesn’t look to even have been discussed with much of the rest of government leadership who are saying to ignore it.

I’m still trying to figure out how fear, chaos and zero oversight make us more efficient.

Trump’s approval rating is fifteen points lower than any incoming president at this time.

[Nebe]

Well spence. All the chaos is meant to distract us from what the real agenda is. They are working on destroying our democracy to exchange it with a kleptocracy like russia has. Gone will be all of the systems of checks and balances that protect our rights.
The problems of this coubtry coukd easily be solved by taxing the rich more but no one seems to be capable of the critical thoughtvand problem solving skills required to see what is really going on.
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[Pete F.]

It seems to me that Elon is smashing things putting on a really big show.
You need to remember that he got his start through subsidies, grants, etc and now it looks like in true evil Oligarch fashion, he’s going for world domination. Don’t be thinking for a second that he has anyone else’s interest at heart. Personally I think FFOTUS is scared to death of him because he understands how powerful control of media is and Musk has almost total control of Twitter/X and could easily control the narrative to destroy him and MAGA.
One of his former employees has an interesting video about working for him and her insights into his business acumen.

https://youtu.be/_cZ7hN4f43Y?si=nLsSq_vkATLOS4yH
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[wdmso]

So Musk seems to be the rights Man along with Trump. who are gifted with extraordinary intellectual power especially as manifested in creative activity. person endowed with extraordinary mental superiority. : a person with a very high IQ.


and yet he sends out an email to all federal employees including Judges (lifetime appointments). asking for 5 bullet comments on what work they did last week..


So can someone explain how this extraordinary intellectual power gifted Musk

A) didn't already know what that person's Job was before the email?

B). seeing he didn't know (question A). why would he believe anyone's 5 bullet comments .. if they responded ?

how is this common sense ?

[Pete F.]

Purportedly what verbiage the Secret Service was told to use in reply, probably so they wouldn’t put: Watched Trump play golf

This week I accomplished:
• 100% of the tasks and duties required of me by my position description
• 100% of the work product that my manager and I have agreed to
• 100% of the duties and performance elements that are used to evaluate my performance
• 100% of the deliverables requested of me by my direct supervisor
- I exceeded expectations in the delivery of the above
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[spence]

Originally Posted by Nebe

Well spence. All the chaos is meant to distract us from what the real agenda is. They are working on destroying our democracy to exchange it with a kleptocracy like russia has. Gone will be all of the systems of checks and balances that protect our rights.
The problems of this coubtry coukd easily be solved by taxing the rich more but no one seems to be capable of the critical thoughtvand problem solving skills required to see what is really going on.
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Well duh…

From the Atlantic today

The Real Goal of the Trump Economy
BY JONATHAN CHAIT
A quarter century ago, Vladimir Putin gathered 21 of Russia’s top oligarchs in the Kremlin to let them know that he, not they, held power in Russia. The young Russian president (not yet for life) informed them that they could keep the wealth they’d amassed if they complied with his political goals. Partnership with Putin held out the prospect of safety, and even greater riches. “We received confirmation,” an attendee named Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky said, “that the development of Russian business is one of the state’s top priorities.”

Most of the oligarchs submitted, but those who didn’t went to prison or into exile, lest they fall prey to the country’s epidemic of window-plunging deaths. (Khodorkovsky was imprisoned, putatively for fraud and tax evasion, but really for supporting independent media and opposition parties.) Since then, affinity for Putin has been a sine qua non of high-level economic success in Russia.

An eerily reminiscent scene played out late last year at Mar-a-Lago.

[Pete F.]

FFOTUS semi backs up Elon
If you don’t answer, like you’re sort of semi-fired,’ president said Monday
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[PaulS]

Originally Posted by Pete F.

FFOTUS semi backs up Elon
If you don’t answer, like you’re sort of semi-fired,’ president said Monday
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The incompetence, stupidity and lack of empathy should be shocking but sadly isn't.

The Food and Drug Administration has reinstated dozens of specialized employees involved in food safety, review of medical devices and other areas who were laid off last week, according to more than a dozen workers who got called back.

The total number of employees recalled was not immediately clear. But a person familiar with the conversations said nearly all of the roughly 180 medical division employees who had been let go would get their jobs back. More than a dozen workers across a handful of teams said that they had received a call or email reinstating their employment; some reported that up to a dozen others on their teams had also been brought back.

[Pete F.]

Here’s what the HHS supposedly sent out, the only thing that makes me worry is the last sentence

HHS Employees -
On Saturday, you received an email from OPM entitled "What did you do last week." The directive stated employees were to submit five bullets detailing their accomplishments in the past week.
In discussions with OPM Officials yesterday and today OPM has now rescinded that mandatory requirement.
There is no HHS expectation that HHS employees respond to OPM and there is no impact to your employment with the agency if you choose not to respond.
That said, if you choose to respond, here are the guidelines you should follow:
• Respond to the email by the deadline established (today @ 11:59 P.M.).
• Keep your response at a high level of generality and describe your work in a manner to protect sensitive data, personally identifiable information, and applicable privileges to the extent possible. Do not (1) identify, by name or title, any other HHS employees with whom you have been working; (2) identify, by case name or otherwise, matters you are working on, or (3) identify any specific grants or contracts, or any specific grantees or contractors.
• If you are engaged in scientific research or reviews, do not identify by name any drugs, devices, biologics, therapeutics, or similar items in your response. If you are engaged in any scientific experiments, research, or reviews, do not provide information that could allow anyone to identify the precise nature of your work.
• Respond by replying to the OPM HR email as instructed, with a cc: to your supervisor.
• Assume that what you write will be read by malign foreign actors and tailor your response accordingly.
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[Pete F.]

A federal judge in CA just entered a TRO (temporary restraining order) against the Office of Personnel Management & its Acting Director, Charles Ezell, finding that OPM illegally terminated probationary federal employees because it had no authority to do so.
The judge ordered OPM to immediately notify federal agencies of the ruling, including the Department of Defense. He stated: "The Office of Personnel Management does not have any authority whatsoever under any statute in the history of the universe to hire and fire employees at another agency."
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