A bunch of former Trump appointees are complaining because the Biden Administration cut off their paid leave benefits instead of letting them milk the system for several more weeks after their jobs ended on Inauguration Day.
Paid leave is an important aspect of employment that all Americans should be guaranteed. Of course, not every American enjoys such benefits because Republicans largely refuse to support anything that makes the lives of workers and their families more comfortable.
For political appointees, they should understand that their job will likely end when a new administration takes over, therefore, they are not entitled to paid leave benefits after their job is terminated. Usually, this would not be an issue between former and incoming administrations. But disgraced twice impeached private citizen Donald Trump did not hire “the best people” as he claimed he would do, and just about everyone appointed by him failed to do their job for the American people. Trump also refused to allow a smooth transition, with many of his appointees, disgraced former General Services Administration head Emily Murphy chief among them, aiding Trump’s scheme to stay in power.
Several Trump appointees actually thought they could get away with drawing paid leave benefits even after their jobs ended, and are now resorting to whining about being cut off.
“I got completely screwed,” former Commerce Department deputy communications director Vanessa Ambrosini told Politico. “There were no caveats in that language saying anything about if the administration turns, you get nothing and of course, that happened and so I got nothing.”
Married former Trump Homeland Security officials also whined, albeit anonymously because they know former Trump people are having difficulty finding someone to hire them.
“It’s one thing if you have a household, if you have one family member who works for the government,” the husband said. “But we were both employed by the government so we’re losing both of our opportunities for health care and both our incomes, so it’s pretty scary to have a premature baby at home and not knowing if you’re going to have an income or health insurance.”
Gee, sounds like they are looking for compassion despite not having any for the millions of Americans who lost their jobs and health insurance due to the coronavirus pandemic. May I suggest a $600 check to tide you over for the next several months?
Seriously, Trump and his entire administration have the distinction of being the worst in history. The economy is in shambles, the coronavirus pandemic went uncontrolled, and there was an insurrection attempt at the Capitol as part of Trump’s scheme to overthrow democracy. In what world do these appointees think they are entitled to benefits? Clearly, they wanted to drag out their employment past Inauguration Day and get paid without having to do any work. Republicans would call that freeloading. And on the taxpayer dime no less.
A Biden official spelled it out for them in a statement by pointing out that appointees “do not enjoy the promise of federal employment past the end of the administration in which they choose to serve.”
“We understand that a few Trump appointees, including a handful currently on parental leave, submitted last-minute requests to remain on the government payroll,” the official continued. “Because these requests were received so close to Inauguration Day… there was no way to implement an exception to the rule in a way that is fair to all outgoing appointees, including many who resigned as expected without making requests for extraordinary benefits.”
It was also noted that “appointees have been advised that they have options including COBRA and the Affordable Care Act.”
Let’s not forget that these former appointees would not even have access to the Affordable Care Act had Trump and Republicans had their way.
In the past, some appointees would likely get to stick around in their positions because they are qualified and did their jobs well. But Trump poisoned the government so much through his appointees that Biden has no choice but to wipe the slate clean so things can run smoothly and effectively again. Allowing Trump appointees to stay for weeks or months would block Biden from replacing them as they draw benefits sitting on their asses at home is not an effective way to run an administration. It just further gums up the works the way Trump wanted.
In the end, these Trump appointees should just do what Republicans often tell legitimately struggling Americans to do and pick themselves up by their bootstraps, find a job, and get to work. Because if millions of struggling and suffering Americans don’t get sympathy, Trump appointees certainly don’t deserve it.
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