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Under threat of RIFs and a government shutdown, some federal employees ‘not buying it’

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6 months ago

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On the eve of the deadline for a government shutdown, a crowd of current and former federal employees convened outside the Supreme Court in downtown Washington, D.C., to make their voices heard.

The Monday evening press conference, led by a grassroots group of federal employees who call themselves the Civil Servants Coalition, urged Senate Democrats to vote down the GOP’s stopgap funding measure — unless it includes stipulations to mitigate some impacts of the Trump administration this year.

Several current federal employees, speaking in their personal capacity, described the “terrible toll” the Trump administration has imposed on the federal workforce over the last several months.

“We have all had our lives turned upside down by this administration,” Charlotte Slaiman, an anti-trust lawyer at the Federal Trade Commission, told the crowd. “When I saw the [Office of Management and Budget] memo threatening to fire more federal workers if Congress didn’t agree to their budget, I was scared … [But] we realized Donald Trump and Russell Vought want us to be scared.”

“This is just a political stunt, and we’re not buying it,” Slaiman added, also telling Democrats, “Do not give up for us. Fight for us.”

Alexis Goldstein, a member of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s chapter of the National Treasury Employees Union, similarly urged Democrats to push back against the Trump administration.

“The way you stand up to a bully is not to cave to the bully. The way you stand up to the bully is to say no to the bully,” Goldstein said. “So if you say no, we will have your backs.”

Alexis Goldstein, a member of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s chapter of the National Treasury Employees Union, speaks at a press conference outside the Supreme Court on Monday. Goldstein, in her personal capacity, joined several federal colleagues in urging Democrats to “say no to the bully.” The event, organized by the Civil Servants Coalition, criticized the Trump administration’s federal workforce overhauls this year. (Photo by Drew Friedman, Federal News Network)

Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), as well as Reps. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.) and Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) all spoke at the employee-led event, to both blast the Trump administration’s actions and express support for federal civil servants.

“Thank all of you for what you do for the American people, and thank you for being here to express your views,” Van Hollen told employees gathered at Monday’s conference.

The Maryland senator also criticized and questioned the legality of the message last week from OMB telling agencies to conduct further reductions in force in the event of a government shutdown. Guidance from the Office of Personnel Management subsequently green-lit agencies to work on RIFs both leading up to and during a potential shutdown. OPM stated that all RIF-related work should be considered “excepted activities” for the purposes of a government shutdown.

“They certainly should not be excepted activities in a shutdown, but we are dealing with a lawless administration,” Van Hollen said.

Paul Osadebe, a now former Department of Housing and Urban Development employee, who said he was fired this week after filing a whistleblower complaint, saw OMB’s memo as more of the same from the Trump administration.

“We were already being shut down. We were already not being allowed to do our jobs. We were already being fired. We were already being retaliated against,” Osadebe told Federal News Network at the press conference.

Despite the largely negative impacts a funding lapse would have, Osadebe said he saw somewhat of a silver lining in the possibility of a government shutdown as well.

“It’s unfortunate that that would be the way to get there, if that’s the way that it happens,” Osadebe said. “But it is an opportunity for people to stop and see that what’s happening right now is not normal.”

“We don’t want to shut down — we want a budget that keeps the government working. But we also don’t want to lie down,” added Sarah Kobrin, an employee at the National Cancer Institute who spoke to Federal News Network in her personal capacity.

Within the Civil Servants Coalition, Kobrin described a broad range of comfort levels from federal employees, in how willing they are to speak out about what they have experienced this year.

“We’re on the inside. We can see what’s happening. We’re watching the destruction [that is] fully underway,” Kobrin said. “People keep asking me, ‘Are you scared?’ But I’ve been scared for nine months. This just isn’t any worse. In fact, it’s an opportunity for us to speak out more clearly.”

The post Under threat of RIFs and a government shutdown, some federal employees ‘not buying it’ first appeared on Federal News Network.

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WATCH: Dramatic Video Shows Suspect Setting Multiple Fires Inside Ontario Mills Mall in California Before Cops Take Him Down Inside True Religion Store

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9 minutes ago

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April 12, 2026

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Image showing a True Religion store, a mugshot of a man, and a scene with police responding to an incident in a shopping area.

Image showing a True Religion store, a mugshot of a man, and a scene with police responding to an incident in a shopping area.

A 28-year-old man from Rancho Cucamonga was arrested Friday morning after he allegedly set multiple intentional fires inside the busy Ontario Mills Mall in Ontario, California, forcing a full evacuation and temporary closure of the shopping center.

The crazy scene was captured on video by witnesses.

Ontario Police officers responded around 10:30 a.m. on Friday to reports of a suspicious male carrying a lighter and a backpack who was intentionally igniting fires inside the mall.

Callers described the suspect actively setting blazes in several stores, including the True Religion outlet and Nordstrom Rack.

Officers quickly located the suspect, identified as Luis Javier Gallegos Jr., inside the True Religion store.

Footage shared on social media shows flames burning in the store as police confront and take Gallegos into custody after he failed to comply with commands.

WATCH:

According to a press release from the Ontario Police Department, “One officer received non-life-threatening injuries during the incident and was later treated and released from a local medical center. ”

Gallegos was also injured and was transported to a local hospital for evaluation and treatment.

After medical clearance, Gallegos was booked into the West Valley Detention Center on an arson-related felony charge.

Explosive detection K-9 teams swept the mall as a precaution, but no additional threats were found.

Fire crews extinguished the fires with no reported injuries to shoppers or mall employees.

The mall remained closed for the rest of the day.

No motive has been released by authorities, and the investigation remains ongoing.

This incident comes days after a separate large warehouse fire in Ontario that led to arson charges against another suspect, though police have not linked the two cases.

The post WATCH: Dramatic Video Shows Suspect Setting Multiple Fires Inside Ontario Mills Mall in California Before Cops Take Him Down Inside True Religion Store appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Iran’s New Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei Reportedly Left Crippled and Disfigured by Airstrike That Killed His Father

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9 minutes ago

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April 12, 2026

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Portrait of a man with glasses and a beard, set against a fiery background, conveying intensity and seriousness.Portrait of a man with glasses and a beard, set against a fiery background, conveying intensity and seriousness.Mojtaba is reportedly recovering from terrible wounds – Wiki Commons

The prolonged absence of Mojtaba leaves room for different rumors.

Ever since the start of the military confrontation between the US and Israel against Iran, a mystery surrounds the situation regarding the new Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei.

In his absence, a flurry of rumors and reports is going around saying that he is dead, or else very gravely wounded; he is also said to be gay and disowned by his late father.

Today, a new report arises that Mojtaba is ‘recovering from severe facial and leg injuries’ that he suffered in the airstrike that killed his father, sources in his inner circle told Reuters.

Reuters reported:

“Khamenei’s face was disfigured in the attack on the supreme leader’s compound in central Tehran and he suffered a significant injury to one or both legs, all three sources said.

The 56-year-old is nonetheless recovering from his wounds and remains mentally sharp, according to the people, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. He is taking part in meetings with senior officials via audio conferencing and is engaged in decision-making on major issues including the war and negotiations with Washington, two of them said.”

The New York Post reported:

“The question of whether Khamenei’s health allows him to run state affairs comes during Iran’s moment of gravest peril for decades, with high-stakes peace talks with the United States opening in the Pakistani capital Islamabad on Saturday.

[…] Khamenei’s whereabouts, condition and ability to rule still largely remain a mystery to the public, with no photo, video or audio recording of him published since the air attack and his subsequent appointment as his ​father’s replacement on March 8.

[…] Mojtaba Khamenei’s wife, brother-in-law ⁠and sister-in-law were among other members of his family killed in the strike.”

Read more: MOJTABA KHAMENEI MYSTERY: Iran’s New Supreme Leader, Rumored Dead or Wounded in Airstrike, Now Reportedly Taken to Moscow for Surgery

The post Iran’s New Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei Reportedly Left Crippled and Disfigured by Airstrike That Killed His Father appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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WATCH: 62-Year-Old Michelle Obama Says America is in a ‘Janky’ Era Under Trump, While Wearing Her Hair in Pigtails

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10 minutes ago

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April 12, 2026

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Michelle Obama speaking passionately during a podcast interview, gesturing with her hand while discussing important topics, with a microphone in front of her.

Michelle Obama speaking passionately during a podcast interview, gesturing with her hand while discussing important topics, with a microphone in front of her.

Former First Lady Michelle Obama, 62, took to her podcast this week to trash-talk America under President Donald Trump, calling the country “janky,” while weirdly sporting a pair of childish pigtails.

In the latest episode of her “IMO” podcast, co-hosted with her brother Craig Robinson, Obama sat down with comedian Hasan Minhaj and declared that the United States is currently living through a “janky” 2.0 version of itself under Trump.

“That’s the 2.0 of life, and when we talk about how do you feel about the country? You know, there are versions of the country that happen, right? And the new version doesn’t make the old one bad. It’s necessary for growth. And I think we’re in just a janky version,” Obama declared.

“Sh-t is jank right now. It’s super jank,” Minhaj replied.

WATCH:

Obama tried to spin the “janky” current state as some sort of necessary growing pain, praising what she called “powerful” community resistance to Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minnesota, which included riots and two agitators being shot while trying to impede agents.

The former first lady seemed to suggest that these clashes were a healthy sign of the country’s “growth.”

“Right now, I’m kind of digging the way folks are beginning to respond, right? I mean, Minnesota, powerful stuff. I mean it was a powerful reminder of what a community of people can do and are willing to do to protect one another,” Obama said.

Americans were “taking things for granted,” Obama claimed.

“When you’re not so janky, you don’t have to prove that, right? And so we haven’t been this janky for a while,” Obama said. “And I think our muscle of understanding our truth just got a little lax. We started taking things for granted, right.”

WATCH THE FULL EPISODE HERE:

While the former first family lectures and complains about ICE from her luxury bubble, everyday Americans are happy to see record-low illegal border crossings.

The post WATCH: 62-Year-Old Michelle Obama Says America is in a ‘Janky’ Era Under Trump, While Wearing Her Hair in Pigtails appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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