Jim Jordan encouraging Trump to conduct mass federal firings when he's re-elected to 'send a message': report

According to an Axios deep dive into Donald Trump's plans to enact a massive purge of federal workers and fill their positions with loyalists should he win re-election in 2024, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) is reportedly cheering him on.

On Friday, Jonathan Swan reported that a Trump executive order signed in October 2020 before he lost the election in November to Joe Biden that would have allowed him to reclassify up to 50,000 federal workers and deny them job protections they currently enjoy. While President Biden has rescinded the order, Axios reports that close advisors to Trump --with the help of the former president -- would make it happen if he should be re-elected.

According to Swan, "Even if Schedule F is not reimposed — or if it comes back but is then limited by Congress or the courts — experts say there are already so many existing exemptions across the federal bureaucracy that a future president determined to pursue mass firings would have plenty to work with. Someone with Trump’s willpower will find a new methodology if Schedule F falls," adding, "Some in conservative legal circles say that the major civil service laws dating to the 1800s are all arguably unconstitutional and that it should be up to a president who stays and goes on their watch. Testing the limits of that theory would put the question before the courts."

Ohio conservative Jordan, who could be installed as the chair of the House Judiciary Committee should Republicans regain control of the House in the November midterms, is insisting that the former president make good on the threat.

According to the report, "Trump's closest confidant in Congress, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), is excited about the prospects of mass firings in the second term of a Trump administration. He said in an interview with Axios that he had talked about it with another person close to Trump and that 'the line that we talked about was, "Fire everyone you're allowed to fire. And [then] fire a few people you're not supposed to, so that they have to sue you and you send the message." That's the way to do it.'"

The report adds, "Since leaving office, Trump has mused often, publicly and privately, about the prospect of running for the presidency in 2024. He has obsessively followed Republican primary races and wielded his endorsement more prolifically and aggressively than any previous American president."

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