NPR

Is Trump About To Be Able To Say, 'You're Fired' To A Lot More People?

The president is limited in who he can fire in the federal government, but if Brett Kavanaugh becomes Supreme Court justice, Trump will have someone who believes in broad power of the executive.
President Trump mouths the words, "You're fired," during a signing ceremony for the Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017 at the White House.

There are about 2 million people who work in the federal government. Despite being in charge of the executive branch, the president is limited in the people he can unilaterally fire.

But could that all be about to change?

In Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump has nominated someone to the Supreme Court who, like he, believes in an expansive view of presidential power.

Could the president hire and fire civil servants at will, for example? That question is at the heart of a concept that likely will come up often at Kavanaugh's confirmation hearings this fall.

Trump has sought to exercise a

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from NPR

NPR2 min read
Gaza Solidarity Protests Sweep U.S. Colleges; SCOTUS Tackles Starbucks Union Case
Tensions are high as campus protests over the war in Gaza stretch across the U.S. The Supreme Court will hear a case about pro-union Starbucks employees.
NPR7 min readWorld
Pro-Palestinian Encampments And Protests Spread On College Campuses Across The U.S.
After dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested at Columbia, Yale and NYU, students at colleges from Massachusetts to Minnesota to California are erecting encampments in solidarity.
NPR6 min read
A Hunk Of Space Junk Crashed Through A Florida Man's Roof. Who Should Pay To Fix It?
"It was not like anything I had ever seen before," Alejandro Otero says. It turned out his home was hit by debris from the International Space Station that had been circling the Earth for three years.

Related Books & Audiobooks