| | | | | |  | | By Olivia Olander and Nick Niedzwiadek | | | | | GOP FIELD EYES FEDERAL WORKFORCE: For much of the Republican 2024 presidential field, the question isn’t whether to cut federal jobs, but whether to slice 10 percent or three quarters. That includes axing entire agencies — as uphill a proposition as that may be based on recent history — ranging from conservative hobbyhorses, such as the Education Department and Internal Revenue Service, to newer targets like the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Not every candidate has a detailed policy platform on the federal workforce, and many campaigns didn’t respond to requests for comment on the topic. But for those that made it part of their pitch, the trend is toward stripping federal employees of long-held protections and shuttering offices. “Our plan calls for reducing the federal employee headcount by 75 percent by the end of the first term,” with half gone in the first year, candidate and former pharma CEO Vivek Ramaswamy told Morning Shift. He added: “In any bureaucracy, in the public sector or private, 25 percent of the people are responsible for 90 percent of the effectiveness.” Perhaps the best-known Republican plan for government employees is former President Donald Trump’s so-called “Schedule F,” which would end civil service protections for tens of thousands of federal employees and instead make them easier to fire. First attempted in late 2020, Trump promised to reissue it in a Rumble video this year. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has also expressed support for the idea, GovExec reported. (Ramaswamy called Trump’s strategy “way too modest.") Both DeSantis and Ramaswamy have acknowledged the inevitable legal challenges to such overhauls, but they each speculated the conservative majority on the Supreme Court would be sympathetic to the cause. “When they’re abusing power … they absolutely should be terminated, and terminated swiftly,” DeSantis said of career federal employees to right-wing radio host Hugh Hewitt. ”So we’re going to be doing that. I think we’re going to do it in a big way.” Honorable mentions: Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, in one of the less sweeping public proposals, has said she would “send a team into every single agency and tell them to cut regulations, cut bureaucracy, take out any people that are problems.” While members of Congress, former Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) backed legislation that would whittle government headcount through attrition. Both Ramaswamy and another outsider, Perry Johnson, have proposed cutting the entire Education Department and FBI. And former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson wasted no time in setting his goals on the issue, promising in his campaign announcement to reduce the federal civilian workforce by 10 percent. Government bureaucracy makes for an easy foil for candidates, especially as unions like the American Federation of Government Employees (with limited exceptions) line up behind their Democratic opponents. Conservatives’ reflexive disdain for the “swamp” — which Trump repeatedly blamed for thwarting his agenda last time around — plus Republicans’ accusations that President Joe Biden has weaponized the federal government has only added to candidates’ desire to break out the hatchet if the White House flips. GOOD MORNING. It’s Monday, July 10. Welcome back to Morning Shift, your go-to tipsheet on labor and employment-related immigration. It’s been 118 days since the Senate received Julie Su’s nomination. Send feedback, tips, and exclusives to NNiedzwiadek@politico.com and OOlander@politico.com. Follow us on Twitter at @nickniedz and @oliviaolanderr.
| | | | A message from UPS: Want the latest updates on UPS-Teamsters negotiations? Learn more here. | | | | | SU SHOWS FOR JOBS DAY: Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su hit the airwaves for jobs day Friday, in her first media blitz since her nomination four months ago. “I remain hopeful for confirmation,” Su said on CNN, our Eric Bazail-Eimil and Olivia report. Asked about whether her lack of confirmation is slowing Labor Department priorities, Su told Bloomberg: “The work of the department continues full steam.” The department has not issued any final regulations since Su started running it, though it put out a proposed regulation on silica dust on June 30. Read into it what you wish: In all, Su popped up on CNN, MSNBC, Bloomberg, Spectrum News, Telemundo, Yahoo Finance, and Fox Business, according to DOL. Marty Walsh was a monthly media mainstay during his time as Labor secretary, but DOL had laid low after he left in mid-March — going so far as to issue the agency’s official jobs numbers statement through Julie McClain Downey, the assistant secretary for public affairs, instead of Su. Until Friday, that is. By the numbers: U.S. employers added 209,000 jobs in June, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. “The latest sign of economic strength makes it all but certain that the Federal Reserve will resume its interest rate hikes later this month after having ended a streak of 10 rate increases that were intended to curb high inflation,” The Associated Press reports. The BLS numbers were significantly lower than payroll data released by ADP earlier in the week, which showed a private sector jobs gain of 497,000 in June.
| | | | JOIN 7/11 FOR A TALK ON THE FAA’S FUTURE: Congress is making moves to pass the FAA Reauthorization Act, laying the groundwork for the FAA’s long-term agenda to modernize the aviation sector to meet the challenges of today and innovate for tomorrow. Join POLITICO on July 11 to discuss what will make it into the final reauthorization bill and examine how reauthorization will reshape FAA’s priorities and authorities. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | Want to receive this newsletter every weekday? Subscribe to POLITICO Pro. You’ll also receive daily policy news and other intelligence you need to act on the day’s biggest stories.
| | LATEST BIPARTISAN APPRENTICESHIPS PUSH: A new bill from Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) aims to modernize and expand apprenticeship opportunities, as bipartisan members of Congress this session grapple with how to come together on workforce development. Specifically, it would look to expand access for populations not traditionally involved in apprenticeships and focus on new high-demand industries, such as advanced manufacturing, according to a media release set to go out Monday. The legislation includes provisions for care services, transportation and housing — workforce development priorities for Democrats, who say they’re essential for hiring and retention. So-called wraparound services have at times drawn opposition from conservatives as superfluous. More Hill news: “Jim Jordan, Judiciary Republicans probe top asset managers on ESG efforts,” from our Jasper Goodman.
| | | UFW REAPS FROM NEW YORK POLICY: United Farm Workers, following a decades-long decline of tens of thousands of members, has now unionized 500 workers in New York — “the union’s biggest organizing success in years,” The Guardian reports. Policy corner: “Teresa Romero, president of the United Farm Workers, told the Guardian that the victories were made possible by a four-year-old New York law — the Farm Laborers Fair Labor Practices Act — which gives farm workers a state-protected right to unionize and prohibits retaliation against farm workers seeking to organize.” More union news: “REI fostered a progressive reputation. Then its workers began to unionize,” from NPR. Even more: “Unionized Psychiatrists Accuse Maryland Behavioral Health Provider Of Violating Labor Law,” from DCist.
| | | | A message from UPS:   | | | | | HOT ON THE RIGHT: In recent weeks, a couple of articles in conservative media outlets have taken aim at National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo’s attempt to outlaw noncompete agreements and other limitations on workers’ ability to change jobs. Abruzzo’s May memo, in conjunction with a parallel bid by the Federal Trade Commission to clamp down on these restrictions, has alarmed businesses that have increasingly come to rely on them. But a recent Federalist op-ed and a story in the Daily Caller frame Abruzzo’s position as a guise to grease the skids for union “salts,” or trained organizers who seek out jobs in order to unionize workers. The undercover tactic played a role in the Starbucks union drive and other high-profile efforts, though it is reviled by some employers and anti-union activists as deceptive. “They’re calling it noncompetes, when really what it's doing is codifying all forms of employee activism in the workplace against a company,” Russ Brown, the president of the Center for Independent Employee and who penned the opinion piece, told POLITICO. “It's an employee activism manual.” Other critics of Abruzzo’s memo have argued this issue is not one that falls under the NLRB’s domain and that its broad scope hampers businesses’ ability to protect trade secrets and other things key to their operations. More agency news: “Biden says he’s heading to MTG’s backyard for a groundbreaking,” from our Jennifer Haberkorn.
| | | ‘ON THE FRONT LINES’: The planet broke records last week for heat, and farm workers face some of the most immediate workplace dangers from high temperatures, The Associated Press reports. Federal safeguards for heat, which have slogged through the rulemaking process for years, are likely still far off. California has a state standard that includes access to shade and water, as well as monitoring workers’ health, AP notes.
| | | | UNLEASH THE FUTURE OF HEALTHCARE WITH POLITICO, A 7/20 INTERACTIVE EVENT: Imagine a future where rare genetic diseases are not only treatable, but potentially curable. Where our approach to chronic illness takes a monumental leap forward. That future is already taking shape in the form of next-generation health care treatments such as gene therapy. Join POLITICO on Thursday, July 20 and delve into the burgeoning field of gene therapies, which hold the power to redefine our health care landscape. Are you ready to explore this new frontier in health care? Don't miss this chance to be part of the conversation. REGISTER NOW. | | | | | | | | SEASONAL EFFECTIVENESS DISORDER? House Education and the Workforce Chair Virginia Foxx, along with Workforce Protections Subcommittee Chair Kevin Kiley, on Friday wrote to the Labor Department with concerns over employer application processing times for seasonal workers. “Substantial delays not only disregard DOL regulations, but they also are devastating for employers. These are, after all, seasonal jobs such as landscaping and groundskeeping,” Foxx and Kiley wrote, adding emphasis. Such employer applications for H-2B labor certifications are supposed to be decided within a week, but “we understand that this year DOL has taken more than 90 days to complete this first action for many applications,” the pair wrote. The Labor Department didn’t respond to a request for comment.
| | | | — “Gen X Is in Charge. Don’t Make a Big Deal About It,” from The New York Times. — “The US Is Building Factories Again, But Who Will Work There?” from Bloomberg. THAT’S ALL FOR SHIFT!
| | | | A message from UPS: UPS is focused on negotiating a new labor contract that provides wins for our employees, the union, UPS and our customers. Today, full- and part-time union employees at UPS receive industry-leading wages, low-to-no-cost health care, pension benefits, tuition assistance and more. For example, UPS full-time delivery drivers receive average total compensation of $145,000 per year. That includes $0 health care premiums, contributions to a defined-benefit pension plan and up to seven weeks of paid vacation, plus paid time off for holidays, sick leave and option days. Learn more about how UPS is approaching these negotiations. | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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