DC mayor to rename Black Lives Matter Plaza amid pressure from GOP congressman about losing funding

This news comes after Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., introduced a bill that would force Bowser to rename the plaza or the city would lose federal funding.

D.C. Democrat Muriel Bowser will rename the city's Black Lives Matter Plaza, just a few block from the White House, amid pressure from a Republican congressman that the change me made.

The mayor's office on Tuesday told a local NBC News outlet that the plaza will be renamed and replaced by a mural designed by schoolchildren. However there is no set time for the transformation.

This news comes after Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., introduced a bill that would give Bowser the option to rename the plaza or lose federal funding.

The plaza was designated after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which resulted in protests across the country in 2020.

Bowser unveiled the plaza in June of 2020 and year later said it would would be a permanent installation of D.C.

Restaurants, hotels and other businesses complained that the plaza, which was close to motorist, had created an economic hardship.

https://justthenews.com/government/local/black-lives-matter-plaza-dc-be-renamed-spokesperson-mayor-bowser-confirms-report

Federal judicial board orders Agriculture Department to temporarily reinstate probationary employees

The new order will allow nearly 6,000 Department of Agriculture employees to resume their work for 45 days.

The Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) on Wednesday ordered the Department of Agriculture to temporarily reinstate all of its nearly 6,000 probationary employees, who were fired by the Trump administration last month.

The order comes as the new Trump administration attempts to restructure the federal government, including by drastically reducing its workforce. The administration previously advised departments to fire probationary employees, but the direction has faced legal challenges.

The new order will allow those Department of Agriculture employees to resume their work for 45 days, The Hill reported.

The board's decision agrees with the Office of Special Counsel, who claimed the employees were not fired for poor performance but for restructuring purposes. The board also agreed with Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger last week in reinstating employees from six different agencies.

“Agencies are best positioned to determine the employees impacted by these mass terminations," Dellinger said in a statement on Wednesday's ruling. "That’s why I am calling on all federal agencies to voluntarily and immediately rescind any unlawful terminations of probationary employees.

“Voluntarily rescinding these hasty and apparently unlawful personnel actions is the right thing to do and avoids the unnecessary wasting of taxpayer dollars," he added.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.

https://justthenews.com/government/federal-agencies/federal-judicial-board-orders-agriculture-department-temporarily