Gregory Korte

Trump Administration Seeks to Tie Federal Layoffs to Performance The Trump administration is proposing the biggest change to its employee retention rules in decades, attempting to substitute job performance for seniority in deciding who’s fired when an agency insti...

The Trump administration is moving to gut the seniority protections that have provided job security to federal workers for decades. "Another step in the administration’s effort to dismantle the nonpartisan civil service.” via @gregorykorte.com

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Trump Administration Seeks to Tie Federal Layoffs to Performance The Trump administration is proposing the biggest change to its employee retention rules in decades, attempting to substitute job performance for seniority in deciding who’s fired when an agency insti...

NEW: The Trump administration is proposing the biggest change to its employee retention rules in decades, attempting to substitute job performance for seniority in deciding who’s fired when an agency institutes layoffs.

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

For 88 Years, One Number Graded US Presidents. Now It’s Going Away. Gallup’s decision to drop its approval poll underscores how polarization transformed one of the most important metrics in politics.

For 88 Years, One Number Graded US Presidents. Now It’s Going Away: Gallup’s decision to drop its approval poll underscores how polarization transformed one of the most important metrics in politics.
(@gregorykorte.com)
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Gallup's late, lamented question on presidential approval was once "the most important time series in US polling history."

But in the age of Trump, the truth is presidential approval had become simply a proxy for partisan identity.

My weekend essay for Bloomberg: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Gallup's late, lamented question on presidential approval was once "the most important time series in US polling history."

But in the age of Trump, the truth is presidential approval had become simply a proxy for partisan identity.

My weekend essay for Bloomberg: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Biden Kept Foreign Gift That Evoked Memory of a Long-Dead Uncle Joe Biden took with him just two diplomatic gifts from his time as president, including an aircraft fragment from the prime minister of Papua New Guinea, a country whose World War II history has featu...

A new disclosure reveals that one of Joe Biden’s most meaningful White House keepsakes was a piece of a crashed WWII plane -- part of a family story that once sparked a diplomatic controversy over his suggestion that his uncle was eaten by cannibals.

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Trump’s National Guard Deployments Costing $93 Million a Month President Donald Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to US cities cost taxpayers at least $496 million in 2025 — with the price tag rising to a rate of $93 million a month, according to a new ...

President Donald Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to US cities cost taxpayers at least $496 million in 2025 — with the price tag rising to a rate of $93 million a month. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

FEMA Halts Terminations as Massive Storm About to Hit US The Federal Emergency Management Agency has halted planned terminations of some temporary disaster relief workers just as a major winter storm moves across the country, according to people familiar wi...

As a massive winter storm bears down on the US, FEMA is pausing plans to "offboard" disaster relief workers. From @zhirji.bsky.social + @gregorykorte.com (gift link) www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

One of the most important economic indicators to watch going into midterms is showing a warning for Republicans.

From the Washington Edition newsletter from @bloomberg.com.

www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...

“musicology duck gets briefly kidnapped”

Trump’s ‘Department of War’ Name Change Could Cost $125 Million President Donald Trump’s move to revive the name “Department of War” could cost anywhere from a few million dollars to more than $125 million, depending on how aggressively the Pentagon tries to carry...

NEW: President Donald Trump’s move to revive the name “Department of War” could cost as much as $125 million, according to an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office.

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

More Americans are declaring their independence.

Jerome Powell has public opinion on his side so far.

From tonight's Washington Edition newsletter from @bloomberg.com.

www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...

The demographic cliff is coming sooner than we thought.

Chart of the day in the Washington Edition newsletter via @bloomberg.com:

www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...

Trump Cuts Shrink Federal Workforce Across Nearly All Agencies President Donald Trump’s cuts to the federal workforce in 2025 hit every major agency last year — with cabinet departments including Education, Housing and Treasury taking the brunt of the downsizing,...

New federal workforce data just dropped, giving the most detailed account yet of the impact of the efforts by President Trump and Elon Musk to shrink the size of the federal government.

My latest for Bloomberg:

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Trump to Name Peru as a Major Non-NATO Ally Amid Anti-Drug Push President Donald Trump intends to designate Peru as a major non-NATO ally, another sign of his outreach to Latin American partners as the administration escalates its campaign against Venezuela and al...

NEW: President Donald Trump intends to designate Peru as a major non-NATO ally, another sign of his outreach to Latin American partners as the administration escalates its campaign against Venezuela and alleged narco-terrorists.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Jurors in Sandwich Thrower Case Found Charges ‘Bunch of Baloney’ Federal prosecutors hung their case on a piece of onion and a mustard smear, and that the Customs and Border Protection agent struck by a foot-long Subway sandwich was the victim of an indefensible at...

Twelve Hungry Men.

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Federal Workforce’s Toll After a Year of DOGE and Trump: 317,000 The number of federal employees who left their jobs in 2025 will total about 317,000, according to the Office of Personnel Management, after efforts by Elon Musk and the Trump administration to reshap...

Here's the most detailed accounting to date of federal workforce departures in 2025:

144,000 took the DOGE "fork in the road"
129,000 left through attrition
21,000 early retirement/buyout
17,000 RIF
7,000 probationary

~ 317,000 total

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Elon Musk Returns to White House as Tensions Thaw With Trump Elon Musk returned to the White House Tuesday in a sign that tensions between President Donald Trump and the world’s richest man have thawed since a fierce split over deficit spending earlier this yea...

NEW: Elon Musk returned to the White House Tuesday in a sign that tensions between President Donald Trump and the world’s richest man have thawed since a fierce split over deficit spending earlier this year fractured their once-cozy relationship. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

White House Orders Furloughed Workers to Return to Work Thursday The White House is ordering federal employees back to work Thursday, as the government reopens following a historic shutdown that furloughed about 600,000 federal employees, shuttered offices and froz...

NEW: The White House is ordering furloughed federal employees back to work Thursday, as the government reopens following a historic shutdown that furloughed about 600,000 federal employees, shuttered offices and froze billions in salaries and payments.

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

US Government Looks for the ‘On’ Switch After Six-Week Shutdown The backlog of work could take federal employees weeks to resolve.

The last time that 2.3 million US government employees all got paychecks for their work the White House still had an East Wing, the US Mint was still making pennies and Taylor Swift was in a completely different era.

www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...

Shutdown's End Will Kick Off Long Process of Rebooting US Government The longest government shutdown in US history is coming to an end, but restarting the federal bureaucracy could take days — and in some cases a week or more — before normal operations resume.

It could take a while for for government operations to return to normal even after the shutdown ends.

w/ @allyversprille.bsky.social

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

INGRAHAM: "Is this a voter perception issue of the economy or is there more that needs to be done by Republicans on Capitol Hill or done in terms of policy?"

TRUMP: "More than anything else, it's a con job by the Democrats."

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Trump’s Pardon of Giuliani: How Presidential Clemency Powers Work The US president’s power to pardon is both one of the most absolute and misunderstood provisions of the Constitution. Rooted in the “prerogative of mercy” of English kings dating back to the seventh c...

"Trump's Pardon of Giuliani: How Presidential Clemency Powers Work," via @gregorykorte.com www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

The economy helped get Donald Trump elected to a second term. Now it's his Achilles’ heel.

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

by @mniquette.bsky.social and @laurendezenski.bsky.social

In this year’s elections, Democrats across the political spectrum built their campaigns around a single word: affordability. It paid off.

w/ @mniquette.bsky.social

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

The lowest confidence in government economic policy in the history of the University of Michigan survey, in today's Washington Edition newsletter:

www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...

CIA Deputy Warns Lengthy Shutdown Poses National Security Risks A top CIA official warned that an extended government shutdown could pose serious national security risks to the US, and that the foreign intelligence agency was already struggling to fund some critic...

NEW: A top CIA official warned that an extended government shutdown could pose serious national security risks to the US, and that the foreign intelligence agency was already struggling to fund some critical operations. w/ @natdroz.bsky.social

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

California Vote Signals New Era of Perpetual Redistricting California’s vote on Tuesday to redraw its congressional maps marks an escalation of a protracted redistricting arms race, in which voters can expect an explosion of partisan gerrymandering before eve...

Call it "perpetual redistricting." California’s vote on Tuesday to redraw its congressional maps marks an escalation of a protracted redistricting arms race, in which voters can expect an explosion of partisan gerrymandering before every election.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Longest Shutdown Tests Air Travel, Federal Workers and Patience The US government has reached a major milestone of dysfunction as Congress has allowed a federal shutdown to drag into its 36th day — the longest in history — amid a stalemate over health-care and spe...

The US government has reached a major milestone of dysfunction as Congress has allowed a federal shutdown to drag into its 36th day — the longest in history — amid a stalemate over health-care and spending priorities.

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...