
Trump administration aims to reclassify some career civil servants so it's easier to fire them
CBSN
The Trump administration is moving forward with a new rule to classify some career civil servants as "at-will" federal employees, the White House said, a move the administration says will make it easier to fire underperforming or subversive employees.
The White House says the rule, formerly referred to as "Schedule F," "empowers federal agencies to swiftly remove employees in policy-influencing roles for poor performance, misconduct, corruption, or subversion of presidential directives, without lengthy procedural hurdles."
The Office of Personnel Management estimates about 50,000 positions will ultimately be changed to the new status. Civil service employees currently have more protections than political appointees, under a rule intended to prevent turnover from administration to administration. Axios was first to report the administration's move to weaken protections for some civil servants.

The leaders of a sex-focused women's wellness company that promoted "orgasmic meditation" were found guilty Monday in what has been described as an abusive scheme to coerce their employees into performing traumatic and demeaning tasks with little or no pay, authorities said. A Brooklyn jury deliberated for less than two days before convicting Nicole Daedone, 57, and Rachel Cherwitz, 44, on federal forced labor charges, following a five-week trial.

Smuggler traveling from Thailand stopped with tarantulas, possums, lizards, authorities in India say
Indian customs officers made the latest "significant" seizure of endangered wildlife from a passenger arriving from Thailand, a government statement said: nearly 100 creatures including lizards, sunbirds and tree-climbing possums.

Some of the victims of the U.S. Capitol siege are angry about the Trump administration's public statements and response to this weekend's unrest in Los Angeles, accusing top officials and the president of hypocrisy. They point to the stark difference between the aggressive response of the president and his top aides against those who allegedly assaulted police in Los Angeles, compared to their staunch defense of those who admitted beating and gassing police on Jan. 6. The disparity risks inflaming the already heated controversy in California.