By Katherine Tinsley
11:35am PST, Jan 31, 2025
Trump sent a memo on Tuesday, January 28, offering compensation to federal workers until September 30.
"What I am seeing…is this proposal is having the opposite reaction that they intended, at least in some cases," Tarlove said, as staffers have discussed their plans to stay put in Reddit threads.
"Great," co-host Jesse Watters chimed in.
Tarlov, who is an experienced political strategist, alluded to Trump undermining civil servants' contributions to the country.
"Acting as if everybody who has dedicated their life to public service is easily replaceable or not doing their job is a gross position and not reflective of reality at all, and they will learn that the hard way when they started pushing people out," she noted.
Trump's press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, has been answering questions about the administration's plans for the near future, but Tarlov has her reservations about their approach.
"Such a good first day [for] the press secretary," Tarlov said, referring to Leavitt's public debut.
"It is complete chaos. It is not being managed in any sort of orderly fashion at all," Tarlov continued, as Leavitt was accused of pulling a "classic spinmeister tactic" by a CNN fact-checker. "It is confusing even Republican senators who are getting their marching orders from the top."
Republican politicians, who hope to stay in Trump's good graces, seemingly implied that they have little knowledge of what occurs at various federal organizations.
"Then they go out there and say what they are supposed to say like good little soldiers. Then they hear from all of their constituents that the portals are down, they don't know what is going on with Head Start, Medicaid, etc.," Leavitt pointed out.
"Then they hear that the freeze has been frozen, they say that is a good thing, and I am sure they are about to get slapped on the wrist again when they step out of line," she noted.
In the memo, staffers were informed that they have until Thursday, February 6, to make a decision.
"If you choose to remain in your current position, we thank you for your renewed focus on serving the American people to the best of your abilities and look forward to working together as part of an improved federal workforce," the email read, according to NBC News.
"At this time, we cannot give you full assurance regarding the certainty of your position or agency but should your position be eliminated you will be treated with dignity and will be afforded the protections in place for such positions," the note stated.
The Trump administration has been vocal about tackling the "deep state," which includes various government agencies and employees.
"American taxpayers pay for the salaries of federal government employees, and therefore deserve employees working on their behalf who actually show up to work in our wonderful federal buildings, also paid for by taxpayers," Leavitt said in a statement defending her boss' vision.
"If they don't want to work in the office and contribute to making America great again, then they are free to choose a different line of work, and the Trump Administration will provide a very generous payout of eight months," she penned.
