How a president's death helped kill Washington's "spoils system"
CBSN
"To the victor belong the spoils." For decades in the 1800s, that phrase was more than a slogan; it was the official hiring policy of the U.S. government. "You win the election, you're entitled to put all your own people in there," said journalist and historian Scott Greenberger.
He says that under that "spoils system," the main job requirement for most federal employees was … loyalty.
It was a system inaugurated by Democratic President Andrew Jackson. "When he came in, he was – and this will sound familiar – he was afraid that sort of entrenched bureaucrats would resist his policies. And so, he cleaned everybody out."
Layoffs across the U.S. spiked in February, reaching their highest levels since July 2020, led by widespread firings of government workers ordered by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
Jordan Willis, a friend of three Kansas City Chief fans who were found dead more than a year ago in the backyard of Willis' home, and another man have been charged in connection to the football fans' deaths.
A federal judge on Wednesday blocked the Trump administration from drastically cutting medical research funding that many scientists say will endanger patients and cost jobs.
Georgia's Stone Mountain Park — once home to the Ku Klux Klan and the site of the largest Confederate carving in the country — has been a point of contention for years.
The Justice Department on Wednesday announced it is investigating the University of California system over allegations of antisemitism in the wake of protests that broke out on several campuses over the war between Israel and Hamas.
An appeals court in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday removed the head of a federal watchdog agency in the latest twist in a legal fight over President Trump's authority to fire the special counsel.
Washington — House Speaker Mike Johnson's chief of staff, Hayden Haynes, was arrested Tuesday night on suspicion of driving under the influence after President Trump's address to a joint session of Congress.
Businesses large and small are bracing for the impact of the Trump administration's new tariffs on U.S. imports from Mexico, Canada and China — and preparing to pass on the pain to consumers.
Reductions at the U.S.' largest federal department began this week, as probationary employees were cut from the Defense Logistics Agency, which is part of the Defense Department.
Veterans Affairs Department plans to cut thousands more jobs as part of Trump's cost-cutting efforts
Washington — The Department of Veterans Affairs plans to slash thousands of employees in the coming months as part of President Trump's initiative to scale back the size of the federal government, according to a memo from the agency's chief of staff.
An avalanche in the Alaskan backcountry buried three skiers under at least 40 feet of snow, Alaska Wildlife Troopers said in a dispatch Wednesday. The blanket of debris could be as deep as 100 feet, they said, which is about the height of a 10-story building.
During his Tuesday night address to Congress, President Trump acknowledged his barrage of tariffs might cause "a little disturbance." But with the stock market tumbling this week in reaction to his import duties, workers with 401(k) plans may wonder about how much that disturbance could affect their retirement savings.
During his Tuesday night address to Congress, President Trump acknowledged his barrage of tariffs might cause "a little disturbance." But with the stock market tumbling this week in reaction to his import duties, workers with 401(k) plans may wonder about how much that disturbance could affect their retirement savings.