Global
Should your employer be allowed to ban you from taking another job? Most Americans would say that’s ridiculous — but it’s more common than you think.
When I was head of the policy office at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), I read thousands of public comments about how employers used “noncompete clauses” to trap workers into jobs. Many people shared deeply personal stories of being stuck in abusive workplaces, enduring punishing commutes, or working for years and years without a raise.
Be afraid. The Trump Administration has “put on leave” — effectively fired — 35 experts from FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, for signing a letter to Trump saying that his mass elimination of emergency experts is threatening the lives of Americans. Another 155 signed but masked their names.
Trump’s announced scheme: completely eliminate FEMA and turn over emergency evacuation to privateers.
The firings were pushed by Elon Musk when he headed DOGE. The cuts were the core cause of the deaths in the Kerr County, Texas flood.
Trump’s own appointed FEMA director, Cameron Hamilton, criticized the cutting of 2,000 emergency workers (a third of the agency’s staff) and the interference by political hacks, especially by Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem, slowing down life-saving response to floods. Trump fired him, too.