Happy New Year 2025

Tag: Employees

Trump attacks DEI policies after DC plane crash, says FAA employees must be held to ‘highest standards’

President Donald Trump set his sights on DEI standards at the Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday after a deadly in-air collision at the nation’s capital.

Trump, speaking to reporters in the White House briefing room, highlighted efforts by the Biden administration to lower aviation standards, though he acknowledged that the cause of Wednesday night’s crash has yet to be determined.

“We must have only the highest standards for those who work in our aviation system,” Trump said. “Only the highest aptitude – you have to be the highest intellect – and psychologically superior people, were allowed to qualify for air traffic controllers.”

“We have to have our smartest people. It doesn’t matter what they look like, how they speak, who they are. What matters is intellect, talent. The word talent. They have to be talented geniuses,” he continued. “We can’t have regular people doing that job. They won’t be able to do it.”

AMERICAN AIRLINES PLANE, ARMY HELICOPTER COLLIDE OUTSIDE REAGAN NATIONAL AIRPORT NEAR WASHINGTON DC

President Donald Trump says he signed an executive order last week raising the qualification standards for air traffic controllers. (Jim Watson/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump noted that he had raised the qualification standards for air traffic controllers during his first administration, but he said President Joe Biden had lowered them once he left office.

AMERICAN AIRLINES CEO EXPRESSES ‘DEEP SORROW’ AFTER MIDAIR COLLISION

The president reinstated the higher standards last week with an executive order, he said.

“We do not know what led to this crash, but we have some very strong opinions and ideas, and I think we’ll probably state those opinions now, because over the years I’ve watched as things like this happen and they say, well, we’re always investigating. And then the investigation, three years later, they announce it,” Trump said, going on to detail an investigation including the FAA, Department of Defense and the National Transportation Safety Board.

Southwest aircraft takes off from Reagan National Airport as flights resume on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. Flights were held following the fatal crash of an American Airlines flight and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter last night. (Leigh Green for Fox News Digital)

Trump went on to highlight a series of articles covering the FAA’s “diversity push” that he said occurred prior to him taking office.

“The FAA is actively recruiting workers who suffer severe intellectual disabilities, psychiatric problems, and other mental and physical conditions under a diversity and inclusion hiring initiative spelled out on the agency’s website,” he said.

While that language was present on the FAA’s website during the Biden administration, it was also present during Trump’s first administration.

AMERICAN FIGURE SKATING MEMBERS, RUSSIAN OLYMPIANS ABOARD PLANE IN REAGAN NATIONAL AIRPORT CRASH

When asked for comment on the initiative last year, including what roles people with disabilities would fulfill, the FAA told Fox News Digital that the agency thoroughly seeks and vets qualified candidates “from as many sources as possible” for a range of positions.

Jan. 29 D.C. plane-helicopter collision map.

Later in the press conference, Trump criticized former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg as a “disaster.

“He’s just got a good line of bulls–t,” he said of the Democrat.

Reporters then pressed Trump on the facts of the crash, asking whether he had evidence that it was caused by incompetence due to DEI. Trump said the investigation is ongoing, but that “it could have been.”

Buttigieg was quick to strike back on X, calling Trump’s comments “despicable.”

“As families grieve, Trump should be leading, not lying,” Buttigieg continued. “We put safety first, drove down close calls, grew Air Traffic Control, and had zero commercial airline crash fatalities out of millions of flights on our watch.”

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Wednesday night’s crash involved and American Airlines jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members. It collided with a military Blackhawk helicopter carrying three service members. Trump confirmed that there were no survivors.

Fox News’ Emma Colton contributed to this report.

Anders Hagstrom is a reporter with Fox News Digital covering national politics and major breaking news events. Send tips to [email protected], or on Twitter: @Hagstrom_Anders.

January 30, 2025
Meta employees ‘protest’ removal of tampons from men’s rooms by bringing their own: ‘Subtle resistance’

New York Post columnist Miranda Devine discusses Mark Zuckerberg’s policy changes at Meta, the SEC’s lawsuit against Elon Musk and special counsel Jack Smith’s report on Trump’s election case.

After Meta removed tampons from men’s bathrooms in company office buildings earlier this month, some employees started coordinating “quiet rebellions” by bringing in their own, according to a new report.

In early January, CEO Mark Zuckerberg overhauled a variety of Meta’s internal and external policies, ranging from lifting restrictions on speech to “restore free expression” across his platforms to changing its “Hateful Conduct” policy to allow criticism of gender identity.

One internal move that irked woke Meta employees was the removal of women’s sanitary products from men’s bathrooms, which the company had previously provided for nonbinary and transgender employees.

META ENDS CORPORATE DEI PROGRAMS

Amid a company-wide shift away from far-left social agendas, Meta management were reportedly ordered to remove tampons from men’s bathrooms. (Zuckerberg photo by David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images | Tampons photo by Martin Schutt/picture alliance via Getty Images)

According to The New York Times Wednesday, “To protest Mr. Zuckerberg’s actions, some Meta workers soon brought their own tampons, pads and liners to the men’s bathrooms, five people with knowledge of the effort said. A group of employees also circulated a petition to save the tampons.”

The vice president of workplace services reportedly emailed the petition signatories directly, suggesting that while it had “not been the intention of Meta leadership to make employees feel unwelcome or excluded in our offices, at this point we do not have plans to revisit our on-site amenities offerings.” The email, however, did promise to “share your feedback with leadership.”

“The sanitary products were emblematic of the quiet rebellions that Silicon Valley workers have staged as they grapple with the rightward shift of their bosses,” The Times reported, describing the tech giants’ embrace of Trump and attendance of his inauguration as “a major departure for a tech industry that has typically leaned left and liberal.”

But while company leadership is normalizing relations with the president in the public eye, employees, according to the Times, are engaged in “subtle acts of defiance.”

“The quiet dissent underlines who wields the power in Silicon Valley these days: the bosses,” The Times observed, noting that this “subtle resistance” is a stark contrast to tech employees’ more public protests during the first Trump administration.

INTERNET ROASTS NYT HEADLINE ABOUT FACT-CHECKERS RULING META CRITICISM OF FACT CHECKS ‘FALSE:’ ‘BEYOND PARODY’

Guests including Mark Zuckerberg, Lauren Sanchez, Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai and Elon Musk attend the Inauguration of Donald J. Trump in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. Donald Trump takes office for his second term as t (Julia Demaree Nikhinson – Pool/Getty Images / Getty Images)

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The Times claimed that according to an internal poll, one question that Meta employees wanted to ask of Zuckerberg at an upcoming company Q&A was how women at Meta could provide “masculine energy” to the office.

During an interview with Joe Rogan on Jan. 10, Zuckerberg had argued that “masculine energy” is a positive force.

The Times reported the company changed how employees could participate and “said it would ‘skip questions that we expect might be unproductive if they leak.’”

January 30, 2025
Trump administration offers buyouts to remote employees who don’t return to the office

Comer vows to bring federal employees back to work

Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer delivered scathing remarks at the first hearing of the 119th Congress, criticizing the Biden administration’s handling of telework policies for federal employees.

The Trump administration is offering buyouts for all federal remote employees as part of President Donald Trump’s efforts to get employees back into the office, but they only have until Feb. 6 to opt-in.

During Trump’s first week in office, he issued several directives to the federal workforce, including a requirement that remote employees must return to in-person work.

“After four years of incompetence and failure, President Donald Trump is committed to making our government efficient and productive again,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement on Tuesday. “American taxpayers pay for the salaries of federal government employees and therefore deserve employees working on their behalf who actually show up to work in our wonderful federal buildings, also paid for by taxpayers.

“If they don’t want to work in the office and contribute to making America great again, then they are free to choose a different line of work, and the Trump Administration will provide a very generous payout of eight months,” she added.

HOUSE OVERSIGHT REPORT SAYS TELEWORK IS ‘WASTING BILLIONS’ IN TAXPAYER CASH AHEAD OF 1ST HEARING

President Donald Trump after signing executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, in Washington, D.C. (Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

On Tuesday, a government-wide email was sent out to ensure all federal workers were on board with the Trump administration’s plan.

The email pointed to four pillars that Trump set forth, to bring accountability back to the federal government, including a return to in-person work, restored accountability for employees who have policy-making authority, restored accountability for senior executives, and a reformed federal hiring process based on merit.

“The government-wide email being sent today is to make sure that all federal workers are on board with the new administration’s plan to have federal employees in office and adhering to higher standards,” a senior administration official said. “We’re five years past COVID and just 6 percent of federal employees work full-time in office. That is unacceptable.”

‘GET BACK TO WORK’: HOUSE OVERSIGHT TO TAKE ON GOVERNMENT TELEWORK IN 1ST HEARING OF NEW CONGRESS

Signage outside the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) headquarters in Washington, D.C. (Samuel Corum/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The email noted that the majority of federal employees who have worked remotely since COVID will be required to return to their physical offices five days a week.

“Going forward, we also expect our physical offices to undergo meaningful consolidation and divestitures, potentially resulting in physical office relocations for a number of federal workers,” the email read.

For those who returned to office, the Trump administration thanked them for their “renewed focus” on serving the American people. But the future of their position could not be guaranteed, according to the email.

SENATE DOGE LEADER ERNST TO TAKE ON GOVERNMENT TELEWORK ABUSE AT FIRST MEETING WITH MUSK, RAMASWAMY

The Pentagon is seen from Air Force One. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

For those who do not want to continue in their role with the federal workforce, the Trump administration thanked them for their services, informing them they will be provided with a “dignified, fair departure from the federal government utilizing a deferred resignation program.”

The program begins on Jan. 28 and will be available until Feb. 6, and should a federal employee choose to resign under the program, they will retain all pay and benefits, regardless of workload, and will be exempt from their in-person work requirements until Sep. 30, 2025.

The buyouts do not apply to military personnel of the armed forces, the U.S. Postal Services, positions related to immigration enforcement and national security, and any other positions specifically excluded by the agency the federal workers are employed by.

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“To be clear, as it was with President Trump’s executive order on Day One, implementation of return-to-work policies will be done by each individual agency in accordance with applicable law,” the senior administration official said. “We expect 5 to 10 percent of federal employees to quit, and it could lead to $100 billion annually in savings for federal taxpayers.”

Greg Wehner is a breaking news reporter for Fox News Digital.

Story tips and ideas can be sent to [email protected] and on Twitter @GregWehner.

January 28, 2025
VA places 60 DEI employees on leave, with salaries totalling more than $8M

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has placed nearly 60 employees on leave who focused on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and had a combined salary of more than $8 million.

The VA said in a press release Monday that it completed its implementation of President Donald Trump’s executive order to end DEI in the federal government.

Part of the VA’s abolishment of DEI within the agency meant placing on paid administrative leave about 60 employees who were solely focused on DEI activities.

The VA said the combined salary of the employees – including base pay, locality pay and additional earnings – exceeds $8 million, with the average pay being about $136,000 per year, per employee.

TRUMP’S FEDERAL DEI PURGE PUTS HUNDREDS ON LEAVE, NIXES $420M IN CONTRACTS

(Robert Alexander/Getty Images/File)

One of the employees had a salary of over $220,000 per year, according to the VA.

In addition to putting the employees on leave, the VA said it identified multiple contracts for DEI-related training, materials and other consulting services that are currently being looked at for cancellation. The combined value of the contracts, the VA said, is more than $6.1 million.

Over the coming weeks and months, the VA said it plans to work on reallocating resources to better support the veterans, families, caregivers and survivors who the agency exists to serve.

ATF ACCUSED OF ‘CIRCUMVENTING’ TRUMP ORDER TO PLACE DEI STAFF ON PAID LEAVE

Diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives have been the subject of heated opinions of praise and rebuke. (Adobe Stock)

The VA is also taking down DEI-related materials from its digital assets.

“Under President Trump, VA is laser-focused on providing the best possible care and benefits to Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors,” said Morgan Ackley, the VA’s director of media affairs. “We are proud to have abandoned the divisive DEI policies of the past and pivot back to VA’s core mission. We look forward to reallocating the millions of dollars the department was spending on DEI programs and personnel to better serve the men and women who have bravely served our nation.”

The VA joins many other federal agencies that are executing Trump’s plan to end DEI initiatives.

3 IN 10 VOTERS THINK ENDING DEI PROGRAMS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT, POLL SHOWS, AS FEDERAL DEADLINE LOOMS

President Donald Trump signed an executive order to end DEI initiatives at the federal level. (Evan Vucci/AP)

Trump’s newly created Department of Government Efficiency temporary organization, headed up by tech billionaire Elon Musk, wrote in a social media post on X that about $420 million in current and impending contracts, mainly focused on DEI initiatives, had been canceled.

On the day of his inauguration, Monday, Jan. 20, Trump signed the executive order, and the federal Office of Personnel Management notified heads of agencies and departments that they must begin taking steps to close all DEI offices by the end of the day on Wednesday, Jan. 22, and place government workers in those offices on paid leave. It is not yet clear when or if they will be terminated.

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Trump’s order rescinded President Joe Biden’s executive order on promoting diversity initiatives, “Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government,” which he signed on his first day in office.

Fox News Digital’s Brie Stimson contributed to this report.

Greg Wehner is a breaking news reporter for Fox News Digital.

Story tips and ideas can be sent to [email protected] and on Twitter @GregWehner.

January 28, 2025
Trump requires federal employees to return to in-person work

Rep. Mark Harris, R-N.C., expresses confidence in passing Trump’s legislative priorities through both Republican-controlled chambers and the ‘strong indication’ that America is a world leader again.

As promised on the campaign trail, President Donald Trump signed an executive order requiring federal employees to return to in-person work.

The order comes after Trump indicated that he planned to push back on former President Joe Biden’s move allowing federal workers to remain in a hybrid work arrangement through 2029.

“Heads of all departments and agencies in the executive branch of Government shall, as soon as practicable, take all necessary steps to terminate remote work arrangements and require employees to return to work in-person at their respective duty stations on a full-time basis, provided that the department and agency heads shall make exemptions they deem necessary,” the order reads.

Agencies must begin the move to fully in-person work by 5 p.m. on Friday, the order stated.

TRUMP WILL FIGHT BIDEN REMOTE WORK DEAL; UNION VOWS TO FIGHT BACK

President Donald Trump signs a series of executive orders at the White House on Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Jabin Botsford /The Washington Post via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Elon Musk leads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and is tasked with finding ways to cut government spending and improve the efficiency of federal initiatives.

One of those initiatives was ending remote work and viewing the requirement that federal workers return to the office as a way of spurring voluntary layoffs.

THOUSANDS OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES LAND DEAL TO CONTINUE TELEWORK WITH BIDEN ADMIN APPOINTEE: REPORT

“Requiring federal employees to come to the office five days a week would result in a wave of voluntary terminations that we welcome: If federal employees don’t want to show up, American taxpayers shouldn’t pay them for the COVID-era privilege of staying home,” Musk wrote in an op-ed published with Vivek Ramaswamy, former DOGE co-leader, in The Wall Street Journal last month.

President Donald Trump delivers his inaugural address after being sworn in as the 47th President of the United States on Jan. 20 in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Pool/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)

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In addition to the return-to-work order, Trump also signed an order freezing the hiring of federal civilian employees, to be applied throughout the executive branch.

The order stated, “As part of this freeze, no Federal civilian position that is vacant at noon on January 20, 2025, may be filled, and no new position may be created except as otherwise provided for in this memorandum or other applicable law.”

The freeze excludes military personnel and positions related to immigration enforcement, national security and public safety.

January 23, 2025
Tamil Nadu Government Holiday List For Pongal 2025: State Govt Employees to Enjoy Extended Holiday, Check Dates and Other Details Here

Chennai, January 4: The Tamil Nadu government has declared January 17, 2025, a holiday for government offices, public sector undertakings, and educational institutions, adding to the existing public holidays for Pongal. This creates an extended six-day holiday from January 14 to January 19, as January 18 and 19 fall on a Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

The holidays include Pongal on January 14, Thiruvalluvar Day on January 15, and Uzhavar Thirunal on January 16, followed by the newly announced January 17 holiday. To compensate, institutions will function on January 25. List of Long Weekends in 2025 in India: Check Out the New Year Calendar for the Holiday Dates To Plan Vacations and Weekend Getaways.

Pongal, a major Hindu harvest festival celebrated predominantly in Tamil Nadu, is marked by gratitude to nature and a sense of abundance and togetherness. The festival spans four days, with Thai Pongal on the second day coinciding with Makar Sankranti. This aligns with North Indian traditions like holy dips in the Ganges. Maharashtra Government Holiday List 2025: State Govt Announces Dates for All Holidays on Account of Festivities and Observances, Check Complete Details.

Earlier, Tamil Nadu government employees were set to enjoy a four-day break for Pongal. However, many had appealed to Chief Minister MK Stalin for an additional public holiday on January 17, which could extend the break to nine days, from January 11 to 19. The request has been considered.

This long holiday weekend allows people to celebrate the harvest festival with family and friends, embracing the festive spirit and strengthening community bonds.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 04, 2025 06:08 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).

January 4, 2025