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How do you distinguish malicious compliance from regular compliance? The orders themselves are malicious. They are designed to destroy the bureaucracy. This has both good effects and bad effects. Cremieux on Twitter passionately believes that the National Science Foundation firing its contract worker "experts" is compliance of such maliciousness that it warrents jail time. I looked into the details of the DOGE executive orders and the statutory authorization for NSF "experts", and I think this is a pretty straightforward execution of section 3(c) of Executive Order 14210.
I can't find anywhere in the NSF statute that mandates the use of contract "experts". 42 U.S.C. § 1873(a) authorizes the hiring of contract "experts", but does not mandate them. I also highly doubt that these "experts" are designated as "essential" during a lapse in appropriations. Additionally, contract "experts" do not get civil service protections, so they can be fired without going through the extensive prescribed RIF process. This isn't malicious compliance. This is a dispassionate execution of the President's order. You always fire the people who are easiest to fire first. Trump could have put in an exception for science like he did for immigration and law enforcement, but he didn't.
"If only the Tsar knew."
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