Presidential politics and the workplace

If Trump wins, one thing is certain: NLRB General Counsel (GC) Jennifer Abruzzo would be fired at once. Just as President Joe Biden sacked then-NLRB GC Peter Robb almost before the Inaugural Balls were over, Abruzzo would meet the same fate. Because the GC sets agency policy and decides what cases to pursue, the Board instantly changes character. As a result, the Board’s prounion stance—despite recent “proworker” pronouncements on the Republican campaign trail—stops. Efforts to raise the minimum wage end. Paid leave and other workplace benefits are unlikely.

And the changes aren’t likely to stop there. Administrative law judges and others appointed with a variety of removal protections are being challenged under the “appointments clause” of Article II of the Constitution, with a surprising degree of success. They are next. Dozens of officials in “secure” positions at regulatory agencies, including the Federal Reserve, are wondering if they must go to court to remain in office under an antagonistic president.

Perhaps most exposed are the thousands of civil servants—the unsung people who keep our government running. They were targeted with an Executive Order (EO) in the Trump administration’s dying days, which effectively stripped them of their civil service protections and converted them to political appointees serving at the president’s whim. Such an EO has been promised by Trump and embraced by JD Vance, although neither has addressed how the government would keep functioning. We’re reminded that the Trump Organization was really a “family office,” and the boss more an impresario than a CEO.