The Trump administration is cutting more than 1,900 jobs at the Department of Education, just under half the workforce – and our congressman, Ben Cline, doesn’t appear concerned in the slightest.
Cline has come under fire from his Sixth District constituents for following the advice of House Republican leaders against holding in-district town halls – the advice being, lay low, and hope people eventually get bored with the gutting of government services and get on with their lives.
ICYMI
It would appear that there’s been advice against commenting on the more controversial measures from Trump 2.0 as well.
The most recent press release from Cline’s congressional office dates to Feb. 19, nearly a month ago, and his recent activity on social media is focused on touting the supposedly surging economy, with the market down 4 percent this week, and unemployment up in February, with the private sector joining the federal government in cutting jobs.
Including the more than 1,900 that are being cut at the DOE, which Linda McMahon, the former CEO of WWE, now Education Secretary, said in a statement “reflects the Department of Education’s commitment to efficiency, accountability and ensuring that resources are directed where they matter most: to students, parents and teachers.”
That’s not Orwellian at all.
War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength. Cutting half the DOE is good for students, parents and teachers.
Notably, the statement from the rasslin’ lady didn’t go into detail about how cutting just under half the DOE’s workforce will make it more efficient.
It would seem, instead, that what’s really going on here is, they’re just cutting jobs for the sake of cutting jobs.
“Gutting the Department of Education would have horrific effects on American students and schools. Teachers will be fired, students will go hungry, college will be less affordable, and the worst harm will fall on students with disabilities and students of color. All this just to put a few more dollars into the pockets of billionaires – it is truly disgusting,” Northern Virginia Congressman Don Beyer said.
Well, OK, there is that aspect to the cuts – trying to find “savings” that can go toward paying down the extension of Trump’s 2017 tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires.
The old axiom penny wise and pound foolish comes to mind here.
“President Trump and Elon Musk’s firing of nearly half of the federal employees at the U.S. Department of Education will hurt every student across the country,” U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said. “It will lead to longer processing times for students’ financial aid, additional problems disbursing funding for K-12 schools, and reduced oversight of programs for students with disabilities and laws regarding sexual assault on college campuses.”
Not to mention, the Trumpers and MAGA world seems so fake concerned about protecting women’s sports, with all the money they poured into TV ads in the 2024 election cycle attacking the literal couple dozen trans athletes competing in high-school and college sports.
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Who’s responsible for administering Title IX?
You got it: the Department of Education.
“Department of Education workers, many of whom I represent, learned of their terminations in waves last night that included the eliminations of entire offices,” Beyer said. “These steep cuts heavily targeted hundreds of attorneys, student aid workers, and civil rights office staff. Trump and Musk’s abysmal abuse of the federal civil service is only getting worse, and the loss of these workers and their expertise will further harm the delivery of key services to the American people – in this case to our students.”
“We will not continue leading the world in the 21st century if the Trump administration pursues more federal employee layoffs and moves forward with an executive order calling for the closure of the Department,” Kaine said. “I will do everything I can to protect Virginia’s federal employees at the Education Department, and the students, parents and educators they serve.”
And hey, while we’re at it, maybe we can get Ben Cline off his tuchus, though, from a look at his schedule, nope, no town halls, and he doesn’t even have any staff office hours on the calendar anytime soon.
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Chris Graham
