In 2023, the Teamsters signed a massive deal with UPS to guarantee a fleet of air-conditioned trucks.
“Our members just ratified the most lucrative agreement the Teamsters have ever negotiated at UPS. This contract will improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of workers,” Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien <a href="https://teamster.org/2023/08/teamsters-ratify-historic-ups-contract/">boasted</a> at the time. “Teamsters have set a new standard and raised the bar for pay, benefits, and working conditions in the package delivery industry.&#8221;
He may have started celebrating too early.
As temperatures climbed last month, the Teamsters sent a furious letter to UPS demanding information on the whereabouts of the air-conditioned vehicles.
“How does UPS expect to actually deliver 20,000 or more air-conditioned package cars and vans over the next two years, when the delivery giant is already so far behind?&#8221; O&#8217;Brien <a href="https://teamster.org/2025/06/teamsters-request-ups-data-on-heat-protections-overtime-violations-staffing/">demanded</a>. “The summer heat beating down on our members is no joke. UPS is playing a dangerous game with the lives of thousands of essential American workers.&#8221;
UPS, meanwhile, seems to have different concerns.
For years, the company has been focused on <a href="https://about.ups.com/us/en/our-impact/ups-sustainability-and-social-impact-report/delivering-for-our-planet.html">replacing</a> its fleet with so-called green vehicles. A few years ago, UPS <a href="https://about.ups.com/us/en/our-impact/sustainability/sustainable-services/electric-vehicles---about-ups.html">pledged</a> to make 40% of its vehicles use &#8220;alternative fuel&#8221; by 2025. So far, UPS <a href="https://about.ups.com/us/en/our-impact/ups-sustainability-and-social-impact-report/delivering-for-our-planet.html">says</a> it uses more than 1,000 electric or hybrid vehicles.
Drivers blasting their air conditioning in the sweltering Texas heat probably doesn&#8217;t help the shipping giant&#8217;s goal of reaching &#8220;carbon neutrality by 2050.&#8221;
But that doesn&#8217;t matter to the Teamsters.
The 2023 deal pledges at least 28,000 package vans and cars with air conditioning, prioritizing workers in the country&#8217;s blisteringly hot areas. The Teamsters&#8217; contract covers nearly 340,000 of the union&#8217;s 1.3 million workers.
&#8220;With oppressive summer heat already affecting major parts of the country, exceeding 100 degrees as far north as New York, Zone 1 workers in the hottest southern states like Texas, Arizona, and Nevada are still waiting for UPS to honor its legal and contractual obligations on heat protections,&#8221; the union <a href="https://teamster.org/2025/06/teamsters-request-ups-data-on-heat-protections-overtime-violations-staffing/">said</a> in a press release last week.
This is not the first time unions have found themselves at odds with green energy policies. The United Auto Workers — another major labor union — <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2024/02/18/epa-electric-vehicles-car-rules/">opposed</a> President Joe Biden&#8217;s electric vehicle mandate, saying a rapid shift to electric vehicles would cost union jobs. At the time, UAW President Shawn Fain withheld the union&#8217;s endorsement from Biden until it could extract concessions from the administration.
Now, a major Democratic policy has once again alienated one of the party&#8217;s biggest constituent groups.
The Teamsters are demanding &#8220;all available data&#8221; on the status of the new air-conditioned vehicles. So far, UPS has only delivered 10%, the union claims.
The deal also promised 22,500 full-time jobs, another pain point for the Teamsters. Yet another issue is UPS&#8217;s slow response to grievances about overtime violations, according to the union.
“We are halfway into our union’s national contract and the Teamsters are gravely concerned that UPS is not living up to its end of the deal,” O’Brien said.
“In so many ways — from the painfully slow delivery of air-conditioned vehicles to overworking our rank-and-file and failing to provide up-to-date information on new job opportunities — UPS has a lot of catching up to do to honor this agreement,&#8221; the union boss said. &#8220;The weather is getting worse, but still our members show up every single day to ensure this company remains the best in the business. The Teamsters’ patience with UPS mismanagement is wearing thin.”
Quite a different tone than two years ago. Best of luck to the sweaty drivers stuck between their woke company and blustering union!

UPS Workers On Verge Of Strike

UPS Push For Electric Trucks Leaves Drivers Sweating — And Unions Furious

Climate Change

Labor Unions

Unions

Representative Rick Allen (R-GA) introduced the Employee Rights Act (ERA) of 2025 on Thursday, seeking to reform labor unions and support workers&#8217; rights. The legislation, Allen claims, will provide privacy for unionized workers, allow workers to opt out of union representation, and harmonize existing labor laws.
Allen collaborated with F. Vincent Vernuccio – the president and co-founder of labor advocacy group Institute for the American Worker (I4AW) – to write an <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/faith-freedom-self-reliance/3454318/now-is-the-time-to-empower-workers-and-improve-unions/">op-ed</a> in the Washington Examiner explaining his bill.
Referencing the One Big Beautiful Bill, Allen said, &#8220;While the forthcoming tax cuts and spending reforms will deliver even more results, Congress also needs to modernize federal law to empower workers and improve labor unions to deliver a 21st-century economy that benefits the working class.&#8221;
Among other outcomes, the bill will allow unionized workers to choose what personal information their union can access, decide whether they are represented by a union in right-to-work states, and have the choice to opt-in to non-union-related spending.
Allen said, &#8220;It also enables workers to opt in to union political spending on an annual basis, undoing the current system in which workers are automatically forced to fund political activities they may personally oppose.&#8221;
&#8220;Perhaps most importantly, the Employee Rights Act eliminates loopholes that can distract unions from faithfully representing workers’ needs and wishes,&#8221; Allen said. &#8220;It prohibits DEI provisions in collective bargaining agreements, ensuring all workers are treated equally. It ends the judicially created exemption for union-related violence and extortion, so that such illegal acts are treated appropriately under federal law.&#8221;
The ERA hopes to reform the National Labor Relations Board, which, in recent years, is <a href="https://i4aw.org/news/employers-have-the-right-to-inform-their-workers-about-the-impact-of-unionization/">reported</a> to have pursued overreaching regulations that may harm both unionized and non-unionized laborers.
Allen also hopes to use the bill to adjust the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, which gives citizens the right to organize trade unions and engage in collective bargaining.
&#8220;The Employee Rights Act has long enjoyed strong support among Republicans in both the House and Senate, to say nothing of the overwhelming majority of Americans,&#8221; Allen said.
Allen concluded by saying, &#8220;With the GOP holding Congress and the White House, it deserves consideration as soon as possible. President Donald Trump is already delivering for working Americans. Truly empowering workers and improving unions will help them rise and thrive for future generations.&#8221;

Men in Hardhats

Georgia Rep Introduces Bill To ‘Empower Workers’ Against Unions

Congress

Economy

Georgia

Politics

In April, President Trump imposed global reciprocal tariffs on the United States’ trading partners, invoking his authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977, to address the national <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/04/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-declares-national-emergency-to-increase-our-competitive-edge-protect-our-sovereignty-and-strengthen-our-national-and-economic-security/">emergency</a> posed by the large and persistent trade deficit” driven by the lack of reciprocity in the country’s trade relationship.
President Trump also wanted to see jobs and factories come “<a href="https://www.business-standard.com/world-news/trump-wants-us-to-make-things-again-but-is-it-ready-for-the-challenge-125060400675_1.html">roaring back</a>” to the United States.
The idea that the United States can become a manufacturing powerhouse is an attractive one, to politicians on both sides of the aisle. After all, who would not be in favor of economic revitalization, new jobs, improved security, and economic independence? However, America’s ability to establish manufacturing dominance faces insurmountable challenges… unless we are smart about the industries we “bring home.”
Historically, the United States has never been a true manufacturing superpower.
Manufacturing employment in the United States peaked in 1979, with nearly 20 million workers employed in the “manufacturing sector.” Over the next four decades, manufacturing entered a structural decline, and the United States transitioned to a service-oriented economy. By 2020, “the <a href="https://www.blackrock.com/us/financial-professionals/insights/exploring-us-manufacturing#:~:text=In%201979%2C%20U.S.%20employment%20in,a%20more%20service%2Doriented%20economy.">service</a> sector dominated the economy,” accounting for 79% of the nation&#8217;s Gross Domestic Product, up from 52% in 1950, and represented 80% of the nation’s total employment. In 2025, fewer than 13 million <a href="https://nam.org/mfgdata/facts-about-manufacturing-expanded/">workers</a> were in the manufacturing sector.
The challenges for the United States to become a manufacturing superpower are many and complex.
First, the country simply does not have the labor pool to do so. The <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/06/04/adp-jobs-report-may-2025-.html">unemployment</a> rate in May 2025, the latest data available, was approximately 4.2%, near full employment.
The labor <a href="https://www.dol.gov/agencies/wb/data/widget">participation</a> rate is running at 62.6%, which is well below the 67+ percent <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/191734/us-civilian-labor-force-participation-rate-since-1990/">rate</a> seen in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but not low enough to indicate there is a bench of workers waiting to enter the job market and join the manufacturing sector.
In addition, our labor force is one of the highest-paid in the world. In the United States, the average hourly <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t24.htm">wage</a> of a “nonsupervisory manufacturing employee” is approximately $28.80. In 2020, that wage was approximately $6.50 per hour in <a href="https://www.china-briefing.com/news/reshoring-from-china-to-mexico-how-prevalent-is-it-really/#:~:text=The%20hourly%20wage%20for%20manufacturing,over%2012%20percent%20from%202019.">China</a> and $4.82 in Mexico. In <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/744071/manufacturing-labor-costs-per-hour-china-vietnam-mexico/#:~:text=A%20difference%20in%20earnings,and%20Vietnam%20for%20cheaper%20labor.&amp;text=Log%20in%20or%20register%20to%20access%20precise%20data.">Vietnam</a>, the average hourly wage in manufacturing is $3.10.
We simply do not have the workers to compete with less developed nations, and those we do have make too much money to make America competitive with them.
The only answer would be to open our borders and import foreign workers to fill manufacturing openings at suppressed wages. This is something that President Trump rightly opposes, as it would change the make-up of the United States, to the detriment of our national identity.
So, what are we to do?
The United States can reshore its manufacturing, but must do so on a limited, prioritized basis. We should not care where our tennis shoes, blue jeans, or T-shirts are manufactured. Those industries hold no vital interest to the United States.
However, we should prioritize the reshoring of industries such as pharmaceuticals, computer chips, drones, and food additives.
“Approximately 40% of finished pharmaceutical products and 80% of active drug ingredients sold in the U.S. are manufactured overseas, <a href="https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-20-262t">according to a report by the GAO</a>. This includes a significant portion of generic drugs, with roughly 80% being produced overseas.”
China controls 80% of the <a href="https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/in-depth-research-reports/issue-brief/a-global-strategy-to-secure-uas-supply-chains/">drone</a> market in the United States.
83% of <a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/strategy-united-states-regain-its-position-semiconductor-manufacturing#:~:text=And%20as%20to%20semiconductors%2C%2083,capacity%20is%20now%208%20percent.">semiconductors</a> are manufactured outside of the United States.
As a free market capitalist, I do not like the government picking “winning industries,” but there is a national security aspect to consider, and President Trump is doing this.
The <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/pulling-billions-from-harvard-fund-trade-schools-heres-what-people-saying-about-trumps-latest-move">president</a> recently floated the idea of taking the $2.2 billion in frozen assets from Harvard University and using that money to fund trade schools, where people could learn to support the manufacturing that is in the nation’s vital and national interests.
At the end of the day, the United States will never become a manufacturing superpower. Our cost structure and standard of living are simply too high… and that is a good problem to have.
However, we must focus on reshoring those industries that are vital to our national defense and our national interests. With the right focus and incentives, we can quickly achieve this strategic goal and free ourselves from our competitors’ supply chain whims.
* * *
Jim Nelles is a Navy veteran and supply chain consultant based in Chicago. His articles have appeared in the Washington Examiner, Newsweek, Foxnews.com, and The Daily Wire. He has served as a chief procurement officer, chief supply chain officer, and chief operations officer for multiple companies.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/gift/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=wisepops&amp;utm_campaign=dad&amp;utm_content=fathersdaygiftpopups">Gift Dad an All Access Membership. Use code DAD40 at checkout to save 40%!</a>

Inside A General Motors Assembly Plant Ahead Of Earnings Figures

‘Roaring Back’: Here’s How To Reshore Manufacturing The Right Way

'Roaring Back': Here’s How To Reshore Manufacturing The Right Way

Auto workers

China

Free Trade

Opinion

President Trump

Steel workers

Supply Chain

Tariffs

Unemployment

Wages

​​What is the real reason we are seeing chaos in the streets of Los Angeles?
One protester explained why exactly this is happening. If you want to know what drives the mindset of the rioters, then you really should take the time to listen to the people who are rioting, who are attempting to attack police officers and ICE agents.
This protester was, of course, masked and wearing sunglasses. He <a href="https://x.com/Andreafreedom76/status/1931946681026617718">bloviated</a>, “Everybody has the same enemy. From L.A. to Africa to Palestine to Vietnam. We all have the same enemy. There’s one enemy. And it is not me, and it is not you, and it is not them. We are not the enemies of each other.”
He pointed to the police, declaring, “They are the enemy. There’s only one enemy. And we all have to work together in unison to fight this one enemy.”
Another protester interjected, “That’s right. Capitalism, imperialism, and Zionism.”
“The faster we grow, the more we grow as a people, the quicker we can get to this revolution and overturn this motherf***er and have real people leading this country,” the first protester continued.
They hate all the “isms,” like the free market that brought them all of their prosperity so they can waste their time in the middle of a day in Los Angeles, yelling at the police and “imperialism,” which is presumably the reason they are standing on the soil of America because most American people were not originally native to America. He says “Zionism,” the belief that there ought to be a Jewish state in Israel. What the hell does that have to do with illegal immigration riots in Los Angeles?
The answer is that for him and his ilk, they are all the same enemy: the “system.” Blame the “system” for all your problems and rip down the system.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/bss-ep-2214?elementPosition=1&amp;row=2&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h3>
Another protester, apparently an illegal immigrant from Mexico, <a href="https://x.com/MediaWillieNel/status/1932140100147953936">stated</a>, “We do not agree with the term ‘illegal.’ We&#8217;re undocumented. We&#8217;ve been here for thousands of years before you guys showed up, screwed up everything. We think we should organize together with the U.S working class and fight together and create a better system. We&#8217;re anti-capitalist. We think socialism does work. Real socialism. Not Venezuela, not Cuba, not any of that crap that they are trying to sell us as socialism. And when we leave, it will be a more humane system that will take care of most of all people&#8217;s necessities.”
This protester was asked for an example of what that system would look like. He said the first 40 years of the Soviet Union, which also just so happened to be the most brutal time of the Soviet Union under Lenin and Stalin.
All of this is the Omnicause, the scavenger Omnicause, as I write about in my book, “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Lions-Scavengers-Story-America-Critics/dp/1668097885/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3JFQDATERYUFS&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.kWrnVJa8bLjS-TYe_ZIR30AgkoDhfNVNvb347yALOi0.jsy8hx2qMpBM1LRx7pK99DD2xEbNzeRKh1T2HbSrgPM&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;keywords=lions+and+scavengers+ben+shapiro&amp;qid=1749580682&amp;sprefix=lions+and+scavengers%2Caps%2C82&amp;sr=8-1">Lions and Scavengers.</a>” It is about people who seek to tear down the institutions and systems that benefit them, the systems that have created whatever prosperity they enjoy as life&#8217;s losers.
I call them “life’s losers” because the people who are out there protesting right now, the ones rioting or waving Mexican flags as they drive a motorcycle around a burning Waymo, are not life&#8217;s winners. These are not people destined for a long life of success and happiness. These are deeply unhappy human beings. 
Some of them are professional agitators. And many of the groups that are sponsoring these protests — that are now turning into riots or burning cars or some violence against police and ICE agents — are unions, according to The Wall Street Journal, which <a href="https://www.wsj.com/us-news/trump-immigration-labor-unions-cf6aa4ac?gaa_at=eafs&amp;gaa_n=ASWzDAi4PPZGna4vypAPuUHb4OVuRqU4u0-dGEWqOSWFRpJovEJNY8KNdfW7dHpVCUE%3D&amp;gaa_ts=68486e23&amp;gaa_sig=vZ3SrmbPoBPxfWfQBoc5ltKPThF2Dx0o5vQ4crXfIJoqi-lOYW-7bgLb7YofCRYMNyigWwU-USw6r2eGjGla9w%3D%3D">wrote</a>: 
<blockquote>Unions, which have felt conflicted lately over how to deal with Trump, found an issue this past weekend over which to confront him: immigration. It came after the head of the state’s biggest union was arrested here for allegedly obstructing federal agents from conducting an immigration raid. The union says he was “peacefully observing.” David Huerta, president of Service Employees International Union California, appeared in court Monday afternoon. He was released on $50,000 bail. 
Just a half mile away, his union, which represents a swath of working-class California, including nurses, janitors and security guards, organized a sprawling protest in downtown’s Grand Park. Other unions declared solidarity with the SEIU and with immigrants caught up in federal raids. </blockquote>
Think about this on a logical level. Why would unions be in favor of illegal immigration? Illegal immigration undercuts the labor base. Illegal immigrants, because they are not legal, are very often paid less than market wages or certainly less than union-negotiated wages.
Why are unions standing up for illegal immigration? It doesn&#8217;t make any sense. They&#8217;re doing so at the expense of their own membership.
What is the driving factor behind all of this? The Journal continues:
<blockquote>Immigrants made up one-third of California’s labor force in 2023, according to census data, compared with 18% for the overall U.S. (The data doesn’t distinguish by legal status.) Some of unions’ biggest organizing wins recently have been in service workplaces where undocumented immigrants often make up an outsize share. “Whether you’re documented or not, you can be a member of a union, and those we represent, we vow to protect,” said Steve Smith, a spokesman for the AFL-CIO.</blockquote>
What&#8217;s actually happening is that illegal immigrants are joining unions. Private sector union membership has been on the decline for decades in the United States because wages have not, in fact, stagnated; wages have risen on a real-world purchasing power parity basis.
So what exactly are the unions going to do?
What the unions have been doing is going into workplaces where people are being paid below the union wage and organizing illegal immigrants. That is the reason why they are now seemingly in favor of widespread illegal immigration in the United States.
The National Education Association president, Rebecca Pringle, who gets paid $500,000 a year, was mobilizing the protesters, <a href="https://x.com/libsoftiktok/status/1932151905565962435">shouting</a>, “We, the people, we, the people, we the people, all of us, all of us have that right to life, liberty and the pursuit of justice.”
Why is the head of the National Education Association standing for illegal immigration? Are illegal immigrants allowed to teach our children in public schools? The last time I checked, the answer was no. Why is she out there screaming about this?
The answer again is that it’s to rig the system on behalf of people who could not succeed in a free marketplace or a free marketplace of ideas.
Shouting about democracy in favor of people who literally cannot vote in the democracy because they&#8217;re not here legally is crazy, but that is the coalition of forces that have aligned behind mass illegal immigration in the United States.
And the Left can&#8217;t let go of it, because the same coalition is driving the Left’s efforts forward.
For the Democrats, this is all about the conflict. When they say that it&#8217;s authoritarian for President Trump to activate the National Guard in order to quell violence in the streets, they&#8217;re actually saying it&#8217;s authoritarian for Trump to simply enforce the law.
But it is their belief that is truly authoritarian.
* * *
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/gift/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=wisepops&amp;utm_campaign=dad&amp;utm_content=fathersdaygiftpopups">Gift Dad an All Access Membership. Use code DAD40 at checkout to save 40%!</a>

TOPSHOT-US-POLITICS-IMMIGRATION

The Real Agenda Behind The Chaos In Los Angeles

Ben Shapiro

California

Democrats

Hispanics

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Los Angeles

Mexico

Medicaid, like its first cousins, Medicare and Social Security, has long been recognized as the Third Rail of the nation’s politics for its ability to instantly terminate the career of anyone reckless enough to tamper with a benefit to which millions of Americans in need have been assured they are entitled.
But the program is equally untouchable where government employee unions and their allies on the political Left are concerned because it offers an enormous slush fund to which only they have access.
Here’s how it works: In return for providing basic home health assistance to elderly and low-income Americans — usually a friend or family member — designated caregivers can receive a monthly stipend from Medicaid.
Years ago, union leaders and politicians in primarily blue states devised a legal scheme by which this Medicaid payment meant the caregiver was considered a “public employee” and, thus, subject to his or her state’s rules regarding the mandatory deduction of union dues or fees from their pay.
Even though the U.S. Supreme Court has since affirmed the right of caregivers to decline union membership and dues, many blue states make opting out of union dues payments needlessly difficult in order to preserve the roughly $200-million-a-year windfall in Medicaid funds still flowing into union coffers.
To cite just the most egregious example, in the 1990s, California became the first state to provide for the unionization of homecare workers.
Today, these “individual providers” (IPs) serve Medicaid clients through the state’s In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program and are represented by either the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 2015 or United Domestic Workers (UDW) Local 3930.
To put the matter in perspective, SEIU 2015 now claims to be one of the largest unions in California, raking in more than $114 million in dues last year alone from its nearly 250,000 members.
Again, IPs cannot be forced to join a union. In 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling in Harris v. Quinn affirming that Medicaid-compensated individual caregivers are &#8220;quasi-public employees” and not subject to state laws making union membership and dues a condition of government employment.
Four years later, in Janus v. AFSCME, the justices recognized that the same First Amendment right applies to all public employees.
Since then, hundreds of thousands of government workers have left their unions, but the overwhelming majority remain in the fold either because they: A.) want to; B.) haven&#8217;t heard about the court rulings; or, C.) have been misled or browbeaten by the unions into believing their participation is still mandatory.
Unlike traditional government employees, homecare providers like IPs, by definition, work from a private home (often their own), and their &#8220;employer&#8221; is the friend or family member they look after.
Consequently, the unions representing IPs seldom have any real grievances regarding their workplace or employer, concentrating instead only on compensation.
And yet they charge some of the highest dues rates in all of organized labor.
Members of SEIU 2015, for example, see a whopping 3% of their gross wages deducted from their Medicaid payments.
This outrageous dues rate, combined with limited representational obligations, leaves unions with more money than they know what to do with.
For its part, SEIU 2015 reported cash reserves of more than $142 million at the end of 2024.
According to the union’s own accounting, less than one-fifth of the money the union collects from members goes towards representational activity. Much of the rest is devoted to advancing far-Left political candidates and causes.
In 2024, SEIU 2015 reported spending $6.4 million on politics, lobbying, and contributions, including $35,000 to the California Democratic Party, $451,000 to California Democratic Party county committees, and $25,000 to Equality California, the “nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization.”
In addition, SEIU 2015 paid $40.7 million in affiliation fees to SEIU California and the SEIU international headquarters in Washington, D.C., to fund their equally radical political activism.
UDW was no less profligate. The union collected more than $35 million in 2022 from its more than 78,000 members, who surrendered 3.5% of their gross Medicaid reimbursements — even more than their SEIU 2015 counterparts.
UDW reported spending close to $3 million on politics, lobbying, and contributions in 2022, the last year for which data is available.
Finally, UDW pays about $12 million in affiliation fees each year to its parent organization, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), in Washington, D.C., underwriting the international union’s uber-progressive political agenda.
Small wonder the alliance between labor and the Left continues to treat every worker defection as an existential threat. It is.
Stripped of this Medicaid-funded, taxpayer-underwritten war chest and forced to support their failed candidates and causes solely through voluntary donations from people who actually agree with them, unions and their pet politicians would face an even bleaker future than the one already confronting them.
The law has always intended for Medicaid payments to be made directly and in full to Medicaid providers, but government unions have figured out a way to use it as a slush fund for Left-wing politics.
President Trump has the ability to end this scheme by implementing a rule change to uphold the integrity of federal Medicaid laws and stop the diversion of Medicaid funds to unions.
* * *
Aaron Withe is the CEO of the Freedom Foundation, a group dedicated to combatting government unions. He is the author of the book &#8220;Freedom is the Foundation: How We Are Defeating Progressive Tyranny By Taking On The Government Unions&#8221;
Stephen Moore is a former senior Trump economic advisor and co-founder of Unleash Prosperity.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/gift/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=wisepops&amp;utm_campaign=dad&amp;utm_content=fathersdaygiftpopups">Gift Dad an All Access Membership. Use code DAD40 at checkout to save 40%!</a>

Protect Medicaid Lights Up Capitol Amid Budget Showdown

Medicaid Is A Slush Fund For Labor And The Left

Leftists

Medicaid

President Donald Trump shakes up the federal workforce and economic landscape, ending union rights for many federal workers and preparing to impose sweeping tariffs this week. Leftwing activists are ramping up their “Tesla Takedown” protests as new investigations unveil the powerful entities behind the movement. And, is Trump’s “self-deportation” messaging for illegal immigrants working? We have the data.
It’s Monday, March 31st, and this is the news you need to know to start your week. If you’d rather listen to your news, today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:
&nbsp;
<iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/trumps-liberation-day-tesla-takedown-protests-3-31-25/id1576594336?i=1000701552067" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>
<h2></h2>
<h2>Trump’s Economic Executive Orders</h2>
<div id="attachment_900177" style="width: 875px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-900177" class="size-large wp-image-900177" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Trump-Signs-Tariff-EO-865x576.jpg" alt="" width="865" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Trump-Signs-Tariff-EO-865x576.jpg 865w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Trump-Signs-Tariff-EO-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Trump-Signs-Tariff-EO-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Trump-Signs-Tariff-EO-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Trump-Signs-Tariff-EO-2048x1364.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Trump-Signs-Tariff-EO-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Trump-Signs-Tariff-EO-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 865px) 100vw, 865px" />(Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)</div>
Topline: President Trump signed an executive order targeting many federal worker unions as his sweeping tariffs are set to take effect this week. 
The <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/03/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-exempts-agencies-with-national-security-missions-from-federal-collective-bargaining-requirements/">move</a> stripped collective bargaining rights from a wide swath of federal employees. It will not apply to all federal workers, just those who work for agencies with &#8220;national security missions,&#8221; including the Departments of Defense, State, Justice, Homeland Security, and Veterans Affairs. 
Context: A number of large federal unions have made clear they will do everything possible to slow President Trump’s agenda, launching dozens of lawsuits to block his efforts to cut spending through his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) project. Other unions negotiated deals with the Biden administration that are still in effect but run contrary to the Trump administration&#8217;s agenda. The White House says this order will “ensure that agencies vital to national security can execute their missions without delay and protect the American people.” Trump added that while he “supports constructive partnerships with unions who work with him, he will not tolerate mass obstruction that jeopardizes his ability to manage agencies with vital national security missions.” 
Hours after the order was signed, eight federal agencies filed a lawsuit in Texas, calling for a judge to void their existing contracts. Those deals will remain in place while the case is heard, but we could see action quickly. The largest federal workers union, <a href="https://www.afge.org/publication/afge-condemns-trumps-retaliatory-attempt-to-outlaw-federal-unions/">The American Federation of Government Employees</a>, said over the weekend that hundreds of thousands of its 800,000 members could soon be stripped of their memberships — vowing to file countersuits of their own. If the courts rule in Trump’s favor, they would give him considerable power to cut the federal workforce and follow through on his promise to slash spending. 
On Wednesday, a slew of new tariffs are set to go into effect on everything from auto imports to appliances to agricultural products — the list goes on. Trump is calling it “Liberation Day,” saying on Truth Social: “For DECADES we have been ripped off and abused by every nation in the World, both friend and foe. Now it is finally time for the Good Ol&#8217; USA to get some of that MONEY, and RESPECT, BACK.” 
The Trump administration has been adamant that tariffs would help secure more favorable trade deals. It views them as a means of combating illegal immigration, incentivizing military cooperation, and spurring domestic manufacturing. Trump points to the trillions of dollars worth of investments foreign companies have made in recent months as proof that tariffs will push companies to onshore and bring their supply chains to America.
We’re still waiting on the full list of products that will be impacted, but Canada and Mexico will be among the hardest hit — facing 25% tariffs on all imports. From there will come worldwide reciprocal tariffs. The White House says if a trading partner wants a lower rate, all they have to do is reduce the tariffs imposed on U.S. exports. The president will also slap an additional 25% rate on oil and gas from Venezuela in response to the “criminals” who he says have been sent to the U.S. illegally. That tariff will also apply to countries that continue buying oil and gas from Venezuela. 
<h2>DOGE PR Battle</h2>
<div id="attachment_900179" style="width: 969px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-900179" class="size-large wp-image-900179" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Tesla-Takedown-Protests-959x576.jpg" alt="" width="959" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Tesla-Takedown-Protests-959x576.jpg 959w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Tesla-Takedown-Protests-300x180.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Tesla-Takedown-Protests-768x461.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Tesla-Takedown-Protests-1536x923.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Tesla-Takedown-Protests-2048x1230.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 959px) 100vw, 959px" />(Photo by Frederic J. BROWN / AFP) (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)</div>
Topline: A new report finds that influential left-wing political organizations are paying for the “Tesla Takedown” protests that continued all over North America and Europe this weekend. Meanwhile, the DOGE team gave its first interview. 
On Saturday, there were <a href="https://www.komu.com/news/nationworld/over-200-tesla-takedown-protests-take-place-throughout-us-on-global-day-of-action-against/article_30f66e6c-6d7a-52df-8dcf-b87b7ff65f9c.html">hundreds of</a> anti-Tesla demonstrations worldwide, from Chicago to Germany to Australia. Turnout for these events varied considerably, from a handful of aging protestors waving signs that said things like &#8220;No one elected Musk&#8221; and &#8220;Drive Tesla out of business&#8221; to larger actions in major urban centers like New York City.
The objective is to hit Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Trump&#8217;s biggest donor, where it hurts while urging him to back off his activities on behalf of the Trump administration.
In response, Trump&#8217;s DOGE initiative, which Musk leads, appears to be pivoting its PR strategy — initially, Musk said that he wanted to keep DOGE analysts out of the spotlight to protect their privacy and safety. But on Friday, DOGE leaders <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1905605596943925378">sat down</a> with Fox News’s Brett Baier, giving Musk a chance to dispel the image of DOGE as just a bunch of young, rowdy tech bros. 
&nbsp;
<blockquote>BAIER: Some people say this shouldn&#8217;t take a rocket scientist. Steve Davis, you are a rocket scientist… Now, essentially you&#8217;re the chief operating officer of DOGE… How did you end up here? What&#8217;s the biggest challenge you see?
DAVIS: The reason I&#8217;m here, which is probably for many, is that I think the goal is incredibly inspiring. I think most of the taxpayers in the country would agree that in order to have the country going bankrupt would be a very bad thing, and therefore the country going not bankrupt is a good thing, that all of us are willing to kind of put our lives on hold in order to do. I think the thing that&#8217;s special right now is we actually believe there&#8217;s a chance to succeed,</blockquote>
&nbsp;
A new report in <a href="https://www.fairfaxtimes.com/articles/local-teslatakedown-reveals-grassroots-protests-are-astroturf/article_1c368d4d-708c-4074-b5fa-5eaf6a32ea97.html">the Fairfax Times</a> found that “Takedown Tesla” actions have been almost entirely bankrolled by well-known leftist activist networks like The Indivisible Project, which organized 29% of the protests, as well as MoveOn.org, the Disruption Project, and local Democratic Party chapters. After building a public database based on a chronology of the Tesla Takedown protests, the report concluded, “While the local #TeslaTakedown protest may appear spontaneous and community-driven, it is the product of a well-funded, tightly coordinated campaign.”
<h2>Self-Deportation Push</h2>
<div id="attachment_900181" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-900181" class="size-large wp-image-900181" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Self-Deportation-App-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Self-Deportation-App-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Self-Deportation-App-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Self-Deportation-App-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Self-Deportation-App-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Self-Deportation-App-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Self-Deportation-App-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Self-Deportation-App-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />(Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)</div>
Topline: With an estimated 14 million people in the U.S. illegally, the Trump administration wants to convince many of them to self-deport. But is the message working? A new report suggests it is.
A new report from the New York Times found that the administration’s self-deport messaging might actually be working. It seems that the length of time spent in the United States is the most influential factor: long-term illegal residents are still unlikely to leave, but more recent arrivals, such as all those who crossed the border under Biden, appear more likely to be swayed by the administration’s message.
Recent deportation flights to El Salvador seem to have had an effect – Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem recently posted a video shot at El Salvador’s state-of-the-art prison complex – the message being that violent illegal aliens in the U.S. will be found and imprisoned here. 
“I also want everybody to know, if you come to our country illegally, this is one of the consequences you can face,” Noem said. “Do not come to our country illegally. You will be removed and you will be prosecuted, but know that this facility is one of the tools in our toolkit that we will use if you commit crimes against the American people.” 
The administration has been clear that it is prioritizing the deportation of violent criminals, but some aliens don’t want to risk arrest. Others believe it’s only a matter of time before federal authorities catch them, so they want to leave before they’re forced out.
Additionally, hundreds of foreign students who have voiced support for Hamas have also been encouraged to self-deport. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the green cards or visas of about 300 students have been revoked so far, including Syrian national <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-view-host-defends-anti-israel-agitator-mahmoud-khalil-as-a-political-prisoner">Mahmoud Khalil</a>, who led protests at Columbia University; British-Gambian National <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-admin-revokes-visa-of-self-styled-enemy-of-america">Momoduo Taal</a>, who participated in similar actions at Cornell; and Turkish national Rumeysa Ozturk, whose visa was revoked after the State Department found she “engaged in activities in support of Hamas.”

President Trump Returns To White House From Florida

Morning Brief: Trump’s ‘Liberation Day,’ DOGE PR Battle, & Self-Deportation Push

Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)

DOGE

Elon Musk

Illegal Immigation

Immigration

Tesla

President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order that will end collective bargaining for hundreds of thousands of federal employees whose work is related to national security, the White House said. 
The EO applies to public sector unions representing workers in federal agencies “with national security missions,” including the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the National Science Foundation, and the Coast Guard. A <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/03/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-exempts-agencies-with-national-security-missions-from-federal-collective-bargaining-requirements/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">memo</a> from the White House said that Trump was given the authority to limit union activity for national security purposes based on the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978.
“President Trump is taking action to ensure that agencies vital to national security can execute their missions without delay and protect the American people,” the memo said. “The President needs a responsive and accountable civil service to protect our national security.”
Other agencies that would be impacted include immigration agencies like U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the Office of Refugee Resettlement. International-focused departments and agencies like the Department of State, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and the International Trade Commission would also have collective bargaining rights ended.
The Energy Department, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, EPA,  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, Food and Drug Administration, and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and the Treasury Department were also all named in the memo. 
The document added that Trump “supports constructive partnerships with unions who work with him; he will not tolerate mass obstruction that jeopardizes his ability to manage agencies with vital national security missions.”
The American Federation of Government Employees claimed that the announcement was an attack on free speech and would impact more than one million government workers. 
“President Trump&#8217;s latest executive order is a disgraceful and retaliatory attack on the rights of hundreds of thousands of patriotic American civil servants—nearly one-third of whom are veterans—simply because they are members of a union that stands up to his harmful policies,” the union said. &#8220;This administration’s bullying tactics represent a clear threat not just to federal employees and their unions, but to every American who values democracy and the freedoms of speech and association.&#8221;
A separate <a href="https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/latest-memos/guidance-on-executive-order-exclusions-from-federal-labor-management-programs.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">memo</a> from the Office of Personnel Management after the executive order was issued directed federal agencies to consult with legal counsel to begin implementing the directive.

President Trump Announces New Automobile Tariffs

Trump Signs EO Ending Union Rights At Federal Agencies With ‘National Security Missions’

Donald Trump

Executive

Executive Orders

Trump Administration

White House

One of the seven small federal agencies that President Donald Trump ordered <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/continuing-the-reduction-of-the-federal-bureaucracy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">downsized or eliminated</a> on Friday was rife with corruption, with its employees hiring friends and relatives, commissioning paintings of themselves, and using government credit cards to indulge in constant luxuries.
The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) occupied a nine-story office tower on D.C.’s K Street for only 60 employees, many of whom actually worked from home, prior to the pandemic. Its managers had luxury suites with full bathrooms; one manager would often be “in the shower” when she was needed, while another used her bathroom as a cigarette lounge. FMCS recorded its director as being on a years-long business trip to D.C. so he could have all of his meals and living expenses covered by taxpayers, simply for showing up to the office.
FMCS is a 230-employee agency that exists to serve as a voluntary mediator between unions and businesses. As an “independent agency,” its director nominally reports to the president, but the agency is so small that in effect, there is no oversight at all — and it showed, becoming a real-life caricature of all the excesses that the Department of Government Efficiency has alleged take place in government.
This reporter spent a year <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/watchdog-just-sign-here/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">investigating the agency</a> a decade ago, and I found egregious and self-serving violations of hiring, pay, contracting, and purchase card rules. One thing I could not discover is why the agency actually existed, other than to provide luxurious lifestyles for its employees. Endless junkets to resort destinations, which employees openly used to facilitate personal vacations, were justified as building awareness of the agency in the hopes that someone would actually want to use its voluntary services.
FMCS seemed, quite clearly, to exist for the benefit of those on its payroll, and not much else. One employee told me: “Let me give you the honest truth: A lot of FMCS employees don’t do a hell of a lot, including myself. Personally, the reason that I’ve stayed is that I just don’t feel like working that hard, plus the location on K Street is great, plus we all have these oversized offices with windows, plus management doesn’t seem to care if we stay out at lunch a long time. Can you blame me?”
<h3>“Recreation and reception fund.”</h3>
Top FMCS official George Cohen used a “recreation and reception fund” to order champagne and $200 coasters for his office, and to purchase artwork painted by his wife. The tiny agency commissioned paintings of its top employees — as one employee told me, “like they were reigning kings or something…I’ve never seen anything like it before.” It spent $2,402 retouching the portrait of someone who briefly held the top job in an acting capacity.
FMCS employees “unblocked” their government credit cards to turn off typical abuse protections, then used them to apparently fund personal expenses and simply bill anything they’d like to the government. One employee leased a BMW; another (IT director James Donnen) billed the government for his wife’s cell phone, cable TV at both his home and his vacation home, and even his subscription to USA Today.
Employee Dan W. Funkhouser used his FMCS card to rent a storage unit near his home in rural Virginia, two hours from the office he supposedly worked at, which was used to store personal possessions such as a photo album of his dog, Buster. Funkhouser also spent $18,000 at a jewelry store near his house, and “destroyed all purchase card records upon leaving the agency,” an audit said.
When Charles Burton retired from FMCS, he incorporated an LLC to which another FMCS employee paid $85,000 using his purchase card, listing it as a “Call Center Service,” even though the company had neither a website nor a working phone.
When an accountant, Carol Booth, blew the whistle on financial abuses to the General Services Administration, which manages purchase cards and contracting, Cohen forced her to send an email (which he wrote under her name) rescinding her statement.
Like something out of “The Office,” the employees spent an inordinate amount of time and money congratulating one another for being employed there and engaging in “work” that really amounted to pampering themselves.
One purchase was for $30,000 on trinkets marking employees’ anniversaries. The agency’s office was absurdly oversized, but it refused to move. It hired a consultant for a “Hallway Improvement Project” to decorate. It had an in-house gym for employees, and purchased a $1,000 TV for the gym, a $3,867 ice-maker, and a $560 stereo.
The expenses that were actually business-related were hardly better. It paid, for example, $895 “for Suzanne Nichter’s enrollment in the English Essentials: A Grammar Refresher course” and $735 “for Lakisha Steward to attend Listening and Memory Skills Development Course.”
<h3>All expenses paid lifestyle</h3>
FMCS used federal jobs as a spigot of cash for friends and relatives. Allison Beck, a former union lawyer who became a top FMCS official, employed her sister-in-law as a “special assistant,” and an inspector general found evidence that she tried to create a high-level job for a friend.
FMCS employees allegedly steered contracts to friends, allowing them to write the “statement of work” that would be used to choose the contract winner — resulting in, of course, their own selection. Such “trainers” were paid $1,500 per day per person to train FMCS’s staff, plus $163 an hour for travel. When a low-level employee eventually said the extra travel pay ran afoul of federal rules, a contractor made clear he viewed it as an entitlement, huffing: “Work we have successfully performed for the agency for more than a decade — at great personal sacrifice, I should add — will be taken away unless we comply in an unquestioning manner with your edict.”
Scot Beckenbaugh, a top agency official, was paid $174,000 a year, but that wasn’t enough: He had his “duty station” listed as Iowa so that he could have all of his living expenses and food paid for in D.C., where he lived and worked, as if he was on a <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/384045/fmcs-paid-senior-officials-rent-meals-other-living-expenses-for-six-years/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">six-year-long business trip</a>. When an employee raised the issue to an agency lawyer, the lawyer told him he “should not raise these issues … it would open a can of worms.”
FMCS hired a former mail carrier who lived in Pennsylvania, Lu-Ann Glaser, for a high-level, D.C.-based job, and agreed to pay for her to stay in a hotel for half of every month — even though it would have been easy to find someone better qualified who didn’t need to be put up in a hotel to simply do her job.
Paul Voight, a human resources official, was listed as living in D.C. even though he <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/359002/fmcs-oks-higher-locality-pay-for-employees-working-in-distant-low-tax-states/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">actually lived</a> in Wisconsin, in order to fraudulently obtain higher cost-of-living pay. Voight’s boss was Artur Pearlstein, who left the agency to become a law professor, and was then re-hired after his academic career imploded in a plagiarism scandal. His first move in his new job was terminating an independent investigation into FMCS staff abusing taxpayer funds for personal gain.
Cohen, for his part, <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/1450139/despite-ethics-pledge-fmcs-hired-directors-old-boss-to-do-legal-work/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">steered work</a> to his previous employer, despite signing ethics forms saying he would not.
<h3>Constant junkets</h3>
Many of the agency’s top employees lived outside of the typical Washington, D.C., commuting area, and only stopped in the area occasionally, in an era before telework was routine. Its CFO, Fran Leonard, would come to the office twice a week but leave by 2:00 p.m.
The agency had, inexplicably, an office in Honolulu.
It funded <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/875236/exography-globe-trotting-honchos-spend-big-on-fmcs-dime/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">constant travel of its employees to exotic locales</a>, on the pretext that it was drumming up business for the federal agency — an admission that there was little demand for the agency’s existence.
In one month, Beck traveled to Italy and Switzerland, where she conducted a business meeting — over video chat. Then she went to Tunisia and an island off the coast of Georgia. She flew first class and forced the agency to reimburse her for mileage when she drove to her vacation home in Maine.
The agency had three full-time media relations staffers, none of whom would speak to me, almost certainly one of the only reporters to ever call.
<h3>Cash grants for insiders</h3>
The agency’s existence is predicated on the idea that it is an impartial mediator, biased neither towards labor nor management. But its staff largely comes from a union background, and it gave out grants to promote union membership. But it was too incompetent to do much ideological damage; its employees’ comfort always came before helping unions.
Anyone could request cash grants from the agency, with the only requirement that they mention some nexus with unions, however tortured. It doled out a seemingly <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/2364087/exography-federal-agency-fmcs-gave-grants-to-promote-union-membership/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">random assortment of giveaways to private businesses</a>, perhaps because they were the only ones who knew the grants existed.
It gave $63,000 to a hospital that went bankrupt; $51,000 to a childcare company to help it pay government licensing fees; and $57,000 to a company to “strengthen of culture of continuous improvement to drive us to world class excellence!”
What surprised me most about my FMCS investigation was what happened afterward: nothing. An inspector general made a referral to the FBI, but there were no prosecutions. Instead, President Barack Obama nominated a chief subject of the investigation to the top job.
A decade later, Trump has done what even the agency’s own employees said should happen: shut it down.

US President Donald Trump

Inside The Now-Shuttered Federal Agency Where Employees Lived ‘Like Reigning Kings’

The president of a major federal employee union collected a taxpayer-funded paycheck from the Social Security Administration for 34 years without working a single hour for the Social Security Administration — and at one point he wouldn’t have been able to go to the office even if he wanted to, because he was banned for allegedly sending a picture of his penis to a female employee, a Daily Wire investigation found.
Witold Skwierczynski now collects a lifetime pension close to his annual salary. He served as president of the American Federation of Government Employees’ (AFGE) Council 220, representing 22,000 Social Security employees across the country, from 1984 through 2018, when he became president emeritus. That year, the Social Security Administration banned Skwierczynski from all of its facilities, according to documents obtained by The Daily Wire.
Skwierczynski was permitted to draw full-time pay from the Social Security Administration for decades without actually providing any service for beneficiaries thanks to a policy called <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-hides-public-records-showing-how-much-taxpayers-are-paying-unions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“official time,”</a> in which the government agrees to let employees do their anti-management advocacy during the workday, rather than using union dues to pay for organizers. Some are on 100% union time, meaning they are paid as Social Security Administration employees but never actually do any work for the agency.
Skwierczynski’s status as a poster boy for the policy raises questions about whether that’s money well spent. As a result of having “free” full-time union reps, federal unions wind up being aggressive in fighting discipline and new rules, even for frivolous actions members wouldn’t have bothered to spend union dues funding. Others may simply use it to draw a paycheck while doing little at all.
Unions are perhaps the most significant <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-republicans-target-federal-unions-after-11th-hour-deals-tie-trumps-hands-on-remote-work" target="_blank" rel="noopener">roadblock</a> to President Donald Trump’s reforms to the federal workforce. Even after Skwierczynski became president emeritus in 2018, he has continued to play an important behind-the-scenes role as a power-broker in the union, which in November signed a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/social-security-head-drank-with-union-members-before-giving-them-telework-through-2029">five-year agreement</a> with Joe Biden&#8217;s Social Security commissioner attempting to force the Trump administration to leave COVID-era telework rates in place.
One career manager told The Daily Wire that in 2018, “they got every manager in the country on [a call] and said, if you see this guy, don’t let him in your office, he’s banned.”
Another employee told The Daily Wire that he inquired why, and the agency official who oversaw labor relations told him it was because “Witold had sent a d*** pic to an employee in the office at like 2 a.m. one day, and so they told him, ‘We’re going to give you a termination notice unless you retire immediately’&#8230; he agreed he’d immediately retire and never come back to any SSA office.”
“This is a disgusting old man,” the employee, speaking on condition of anonymity because he did not have permission from the Social Security Administration, added.
That same year, Skwierczynski retired from government and decided not to run for re-election as union president.
In late 2018, Skwierczynski wrote in an email obtained by The Daily Wire that a grievance had &#8220;been filed by the General Committee in July regarding my space access.”
In December, a union official wrote to the agency that it planned to file a second grievance for “denying Mr. Skwierczynski access to Agency space, and refusing to deal with him in representational matters.” But Skwierczynski wrote that &#8220;Frankly, since I am retired from SSA and did not seek re-election, I have no interest in pursuing this issue. I have been able to perform my assigned functions for the Council without access to SSA space.&#8221;
According to minutes of the union arbitration committee, union leaders said Skwierczynski claimed he did not know why he was banned. The committee voted to advance a grievance anyway, highlighting how aggressively unions fight any discipline action.
Skwierczynski told The Daily Wire he retired because Trump issued an executive order capping “official time” at 25% of an employee&#8217;s hours, meaning Social Security employees would have to work at least some of the time for the agency — something he had no intention of doing. “I retired in 2018 due to SSA&#8217;s imminent implementation of President Trump&#8217;s Executive Order limiting official time to 25% and the fact that SSA was going to send me and other union officials back to our desks to process claims making it virtually impossible to perform my union President&#8217;s duties. Also, I was 68 years old and would receive a pension close to equal to my salary from SSA,” he said in an email.
Biden later withdrew that executive order, and it has not yet been reinstated in Trump&#8217;s second term. But on Thursday, the Office of Personnel Management ordered agencies to <a href="https://federalnewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Agency-Reporting-to-OPM-for-Fiscal-Year-2024-Taxpayer-Funded-Union-2-27-2025-final_0.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report data</a> about how much &#8220;taxpayer-funded union time&#8221; was being used, and how. The Biden administration broke from past Democrat and Republican administrations by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-hides-public-records-showing-how-much-taxpayers-are-paying-unions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">concealing</a> such data from the public.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who chairs the House’s Subcommittee on Delivering Government Efficiency (DOGE), said the case highlights why &#8220;official time&#8221; must be reformed or abolished.
“Not only was this union boss working for his public union against the American taxpayer on official time, he also allegedly sent a photo of his penis to another employee. Both of these things are appalling. It is a slap in the face to every hard-working American,” she told The Daily Wire.
In 2019, Skwierczynski continued to work for the union, this time <a href="https://olmsapps.dol.gov/query/orgReport.do?rptId=720102&amp;rptForm=LM2Form" target="_blank" rel="noopener">paid</a> with union funds instead of taxpayer dollars. But in October of that year, the council’s new president wrote to Skwierczynski that Social Security Administration management told him of “the events that lead to your being banned from SSA property.” The letter said &#8220;I understand how that is embarrassing to you,&#8221; and gave him an opportunity to quietly withdraw from his paid union role.
It said if Skwierczynski did not send a memo &#8220;asserting that you have moved on to greener pastures&#8221; by November 5, the president would be forced to tell people what happened. On November 3, Skwierczynski did just that, writing that he was busy with his “work for the Ben Jealous for governor campaign in Maryland, for the Bernie Sanders for president campaign in Maryland, and for the labor campaign to elect Virginia democrats,” and therefore could not sign another paid contract with Council 220.
“I know that these are difficult times for the Council as a result of the Trump Executive Orders&#8230;I will help in the future where I can. I just think it’s best that I not be an employee of the Council,” he wrote.
<div id="attachment_885067" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-885067" class="size-large wp-image-885067" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/witold-composite-1024x512.png" alt="" width="1024" height="512" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/witold-composite-1024x512.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/witold-composite-300x150.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/witold-composite-768x384.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/witold-composite-1536x768.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/witold-composite-2048x1024.png 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Witold Skwierczynski (CSPAN/Facebook)</div>
In an email to The Daily Wire, Skwierczynski said &#8220;I gave up my stipend with Council 220 because I wished to expand my horizons of activity with other organizations as a volunteer.&#8221;
&#8220;I was never banned from SSA facilities. I have accessed SSA facilities since I retired in 2018. The allegation regarding sending pictures of genitalia is false,” he said, adding, “I was never threatened with termination.”
He did not respond to a follow-up asking him to address documents that reference his ban. The Social Security Administration did not return requests for comment.
A union official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Daily Wire that Skwierczynski told him he&#8217;d meant to send the picture to someone else, but was drunk.
Even after his second exit, Skwierczynski has remained a powerful and active figure in the union. As president emeritus, the union pays for him to attend its major events, where they strategize against the administration. That has continued even as the circumstances of his ban from the Social Security Administration became widely known.
On April 19, 2021, Edwin Osario, the Council’s current vice president, wrote, “I was going to make a resolution to remove Witold’s emeritus status,” but “I am afraid it would have a negative impact on the Council furthering the narrative that the Council is more about exclusion and marginalization than solidarity.”
Skwierczynski saw a resurgence in his influence in 2022 with the election of Jessica LaPointe, Council 220’s current president, after he helped secure her victory, members said.
Skwierczynski was appointed chair of the union’s Retirement Committee. He even met with Martin O’Malley, President Joe Biden’s Social Security Commissioner, in 2023, leading a female union member to write to O’Malley with the subject line: “Protect Women from Witold.”
“Skwierczynski was banned from all 1,200 Social Security Offices,” the email said. “Since Jessica LaPointe became Council 220 President, she has chosen to fully involve Mr. Skwierczynski in Union activities despite his outrageous behavior.” The email faulted O’Malley for letting employees use “official time” to go to union conventions where Skwierczynski would be.
O’Malley did not respond, and both men were at the council’s convention in November 2024, where O’Malley <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/social-security-head-drank-with-union-members-before-giving-them-telework-through-2029" target="_blank" rel="noopener">drank and partied with union members</a> before signing the work-from-home contract days later.
A union member told The Daily Wire that LaPointe is “this ultra-liberal, safe-space person and she knows about the d*** pic.” LaPointe did not return a request for comment.
AFGE, which is quick to paint conservatives as racist and sexist, protected and elevated Skwierczynski for decades despite complaints about his conduct.
As far back as 2001, AFGE paid about $30,000 to settle a <a href="https://casetext.com/case/stone-v-american-federation-of-government-employees">lawsuit</a> filed by Skwierczynski’s then-assistant, Ulander Stone. The suit alleged that another union employee, who was close with Skwierczynski, called Stone the n-word, and that after she complained, Skwierczynski engaged in precisely the type of retaliatory discipline that unions say they exist to prevent. He allegedly reprimanded her for using a fax machine for “personal business” when she used it to file a discrimination complaint, and killed the ensuing investigation.
<blockquote>
<h1>Emails show that Skwierczynski has continued to participate in discussions among top SSA union leadership, including strategizing about how to stop Trump from making employees go into the office.</h1>
</blockquote>
Skwierczynski rejected the allegations, telling The Daily Wire that Stone was a felon and he fired her because she was a bad employee.
In 2015, “Skwierczynski called National Secretary Treasurer Eugene Hudson, the union’s highest ranking African American official, a ‘N*****’ for the second time during the AFGE national convention,” another <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.218955/gov.uscourts.dcd.218955.11.0.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lawsuit</a> alleged.
In September 2021, 40 union members filed a complaint with AFGE President Everett Kelley against Skwierczynski, saying he should be stripped of his title of president emeritus and his union membership over his alleged sexual misconduct. Union members said even though the union’s constitution requires such complaints to trigger an investigation, they saw no evidence that basic fact-finding interviews occurred.
“AFGE took no action against me,” Skwierczynski said. “I denied the allegations and the complaint contained no evidence of the allegations.” Kelley did not return a request for comment.
Emails show that Skwierczynski has continued to participate in discussions among top Social Security Administration union leadership, including strategizing about how to stop Trump from making employees go into the office.
AFGE may have a worse track record of empowering abusive managers than most government agencies. In 2020, J. David Cox Sr., then-president of the entire AFGE, which represents 800,000 employees across federal agencies, resigned after being accused of sexually harassing employees including his male personal driver, using union resources to facilitate a lavish life of strip clubs and prostitutes, engaging in racism against his subordinates, and retaliating against those who objected.
The allegation about Skwierczynski using the n-word in 2015 came in a lawsuit centered upon Cox, and said Cox’s lieutenants did nothing to discipline Skwierczynski, but instead “filed disciplinary charges against Mr. Hudson for overreacting to being called the racial slur.”
The lawsuit was dismissed, but 10 men and women came forward to say they were victims of Cox, including an AFGE spokesman who said Cox had stuck his <a href="https://www.nextgov.com/people/2020/02/afge-member-alleges-ex-president-abused-her-adult-son-for-years/195982/">tongue in his ear</a>. An investigation commissioned by the union <a href="https://www.workingideal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Working-IDEAL-Report-for-AFGE.pdf">substantiated</a> most of the Cox allegations.
The lawsuit alleged that Kelley, the union’s current president, signed a secret deal with Cox that led to Cox resigning and Kelley taking his place.
Kelley has called it racist for Trump to excise diversity, equity, and inclusion from the federal government, pledged to stand in the way of his orders to return to the office, and filed a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/unions-sue-doge-calling-it-unbalanced-for-excluding-opponents-of-efficiency" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lawsuit against</a> the Department of Government Efficiency. The suit said AFGE should have a seat on DOGE as a &#8220;voice for advocating for the resources that government employees need to effectively perform their duties while supporting fair treatment, equitable pay, and safe working conditions.&#8221;
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/government-union-that-wants-feds-to-work-from-home-brings-staff-back-to-office-to-fight-trump">Union That Wants Feds To Work From Home Brings Staff Back To Office To Fight Trump</a>

Witold Skwierczynski (Facebook)

Union Prez On Gov’t Payroll Was Banned From Federal Buildings For Sexual Misconduct, Sources Say

Marjorie Taylor Green

Social Security

A U.S. District judge has <a href="https://www.nteu.org/~/media/Files/nteu/docs/public/2025/Mass%20Firing%20TRO%20Denied">rebuffed an effort</a> by labor unions representing federal workers to block President Donald Trump’s layoffs of federal employees.
The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), the National Federation of Federal Employees, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, and the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agriculture Implement Workers of America employees sued Trump on February 12, claiming that Trump’s executive actions laying off workers violated constitutional separation-of-powers principles “because they undermine Congress’ authority to set and fund the missions of federal agencies.” They demanded a temporary restraining order.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that his court would deny the unions the relief they sought because it “likely lacks subject matter jurisdiction to hear their claims.” He added, “The claims must instead be brought before the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) under the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute.”
The FLRA is a three-member agency responsible for handling federal labor disputes. “The FLRA is an independent administrative federal agency that administers the labor-management relations program for 2.1 million non-postal federal employees worldwide,” the agency notes on its <a href="applewebdata://93BF6EE8-F13D-469F-9E84-A074F2335552/v">website</a>.
<a class="c-link" href="http://dailywire.com/subscribe" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="http://dailywire.com/subscribe" data-sk="tooltip_parent">PRESIDENTS’ DAY SALE! 40% Off DailyWire+ Annual Memberships With Code DW40</a>
“NTEU contends that no meaningful judicial review is available to it because it will suffer irremediable financial harm and loss of bargaining power in the interim,” Cooper noted. “But NTEU will be able to seek ‘meaningful review,’ as the D.C. Circuit has interpreted it, via the statutory scheme.”
“NTEU appears to suggest that the constitutional challenges it brings are not of the type appropriately resolved under the statutory scheme,” he continued. “But absent any challenge to the very FLRA procedures it wishes to circumvent, NTEU’s constitutional claims do not defeat preclusion.”
“NTEU argues that the firings at issue are so numerous that they will overwhelm the FLRA, thereby foreclosing, or at least forestalling, any meaningful review,” he wrote. “But NTEU provides no reason why it could not seek relief from the FLRA on behalf of a class of plaintiffs and admits that it would ask other agencies to follow an administrative judge’s ruling in its favor.”
“Plaintiffs’ motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction is denied,” he concluded.

President Trump Signs Executive Orders At Mar-a-Lago In Palm Beach, Florida

Judge Rebuffs Labor Unions’ Effort To Block Trump Laying Off Federal Workers

Courts

Judge

layoffs

Lori Chavez-DeRemer, President Donald Trump&#8217;s pick to lead the Department of Labor, told lawmakers on Wednesday that if confirmed she would respect state right-to-work laws after previously backing a bill that would have repealed laws allowing workers to opt out of labor unions. 
Chavez-DeRemer, a former Republican congresswoman from Oregon, told lawmakers in the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions multiple times that she would not oppose right-to-work states. This is a reversal from her time in Congress, when she backed the PRO Act, legislation that would have overturned state laws allowing a worker to not be forced to join a union or pay union dues to be employed. 
During the hearing, Chavez-DeRemer indicated to both Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Rand Paul (R-KY) that she would not challenge right-to-work laws. 
When asked by Cassidy whether she still supported the PRO Act, Chavez-DeRemer responded by saying that she recognized she was “no longer a lawmaker,” and would work to implement President Donald Trump’s agenda. 
“I respect the right of the right-to-work states, and I have said that. That bill was imperfect, I understand that, and I am no longer a lawmaker,” she said. 
Later, she more explicitly said she would support the laws of right-to-work states during a back-and-forth with Paul, who had previously said he would not back her nomination. 
“The right to work is a fundamental tenant of labor laws where states have a right to choose if they want to be a right to work state,” she told Paul. “I fully, fairly, and support states who want to protect their right to work. I have said that to every senator I have visited with.” 
“So you no longer support the aspect of the PRO Act that would’ve overturned state right-to-work laws?” Paul asked.  
“Yeah,” she responded. 
“That’s a yes?” he asked.
“Yes,” she replied, and Paul said that he had “no more questions.” 
When asked after the hearing about whether he would potentially change his vote on her confirmation, Paul said that he would be reexamining her answers. 
“I’m going to think about her answers and think about whether or not a conversion at this last moment is sincere,” he said. 
Chavez-DeRemer was also asked during the hearing about her previous work at Planned Parenthood when she was in her 20s. 
“I am supportive of the president’s agenda. I have a 100% pro-life voting record in Congress and I will continue to support the America First agenda, which we know includes life,” she said when asked by Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) whether she was pro-abortion or pro-life.
“Good answer,” he replied. 
Chavez-DeRemer has a “B” rating from Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, which notes she did vote to oppose some pro-life measures in Congress, saying that she “publicly opposed passage of bills that would permanently stop taxpayer funding of abortion across the federal government.”
Her confirmation appears to be on track as most of the Republicans on the committee and a few of the Democrats appeared likely to vote to advance her nomination. 
A number of unions, including the International Franchise Association, the National Restaurant Association, the National Retail Federation, and the American Hotel and Lodging Association, have also announced support for her nomination.

Chavez-DeRemer Labor Hearing in Washington

Trump Labor Nominee Says She Will Respect State Right-To-Work Laws

Cabinet

Rand Paul

Two government unions representing U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) workers sued the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/trump-administration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trump administration</a> on Thursday, alleging that the overhaul of the agency is &#8220;unconstitutional and illegal.&#8221; 
The <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25515264-1complaint-for-declaratory-and-injunctive-relief/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">suit</a>, filed by the American Foreign Service Association and the American Federation of Government Employees, accuses President Donald Trump of creating a global crisis through his actions to pause certain USAID programs. The suit comes after a post on the agency&#8217;s website on Tuesday <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-admin-placing-almost-all-usaid-employees-on-leave-as-musk-looks-to-cut-agency" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> that nearly all of its employees would be placed on leave as the administration evaluates how taxpayer dollars are being spent. 
“These actions have generated a global humanitarian crisis by abruptly halting the crucial work of USAID employees, grantees, and contractors. They have cost thousands of American jobs. And they have imperiled U.S. national security interests,” said the lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Washington, D.C.
Trump <a href="https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/national-international/usaid-to-be-reduced-to-about-290-foreign-service-officers-and-civil-servants/3786112/?os=wtmb5utkcxk5refapp6kovwamr&amp;ref=app" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> plans to reduce staffing levels at the agency from the thousands to the hundreds.
In addition to Trump, the suit names Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as defendants. It accuses them of separation of powers and administrative procedure act violations. Rubio was named the acting director of USAID on Monday. 
“Not a single one of defendants’ actions to dismantle USAID were taken pursuant to congressional authorization. And pursuant to federal statute, Congress is the only entity that may lawfully dismantle the agency,” the suit added. 
Under Trump, the State Department ordered a freeze on funding for foreign aid but allowed exceptions for “life-saving humanitarian assistance,” which included support for “core life-saving medicine, medical services, food, shelter, and subsistence assistance.”
Elon Musk and his team at Trump’s “Department of Government Efficiency” program have been behind much of the efforts to gut USAID. Musk <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/beyond-repair-musk-says-trump-has-given-the-go-ahead-to-get-rid-of-usaid" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on Monday that Trump had given him the go-ahead to start shutting down the agency due to its wasteful spending on ideological projects. 
Nearly all USAID employees will be placed on administrative leave starting Friday at 11:59 p.m. and have been asked to return to the U.S. 
Exceptions will be made for “designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and specially designated programs,” according to the administration. 
Rubio <a href="https://www.youtube.com/live/XQYd2J3cOps" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on Thursday that the U.S. would continue to provide foreign aid but would slash programs that don’t align with the national interest. 
“The goal of our endeavor has always been to identify programs that work and continue them,” he told reporters in the Dominican Republic. “And to identify programs that are not aligned with our national interest, identify those, and address them.” 
Rubio said the administrative leave action was taken because USAID employees had tried to evade transparency. 
&#8220;I&#8217;d have preferred not to do it this way,&#8221; he added. &#8220;When we tried to do it from the top down by getting cooperation from the central office and USAID, what we found instead are people trying to use the system to sneak through payments and push through payments despite the stop order. We found people that were uncooperative in terms of giving us information and access.&#8221;

Menu