The White House of Biden did not want to talk about the issue on record. Instead, an official noted anonymously that political appointments “do not enjoy the promise of federal service at the end of the government in which they choose to serve.” The official blamed the Trump administration for a quick and orderly transition due to some of his team being caught off guard by the benefits ending.
“We understand that a number of Trump appointments, including a handful of currently parental leave, have made last-minute requests to stay on government pay,” the official said. ‘Because these requests were received so close to Inauguration Day, there was no way to implement an exception to the rule in a way that is fair to all outgoing appointments, including many who resigned as expected without making requests for extraordinary benefits. ‘
The official added that “employers have been advised that they have options, including COBRA and the Affordable Care Act.”
For Ambrosini and others, these options were not enough to move into an already difficult situation. Former Trump officials face an uphill climb in a job in Washington DC, where the federal government is run by Democrats. It is almost impossible to look for work if you are caring for a baby at home.
“With a newborn baby, it’s not like I can just jump into the job market and like ‘hey, I’m ready to work,’ ‘Ambrosini said. “It’s hard. Nobody’s going to be willing to hire me right now because I’m still home with the baby, so it’s hard.”
Ambrosini, who was the deputy communications director at the Department of Commerce and a former Trump White House official, said she had received approval to take parental leave from early January to late March. But she was informed a day before her baby on December 17 that her leave would end on January 20, when the inauguration would take place. After some deliberation, she decided to use her sick leave during the first three weeks of January before the inauguration.
A few married former Trump Homeland Security officials said they had a similar experience. They sent e-mails to POLITICO in which an official of the agency said that they had their parental leave benefits as political appointments would treated the same as those for career workers. Their baby was born on December 18th. Late that night on January 5th, the father received an email from the HR office that he was wrong and that their benefit would end on January 20th.
“It’s one thing if you have a household, if you have one family member who works for the government,” he said. ‘But we were both employed by the government, so we’re both losing our healthcare opportunities and both our revenue. It is therefore frightening to have a premature baby at home and not know if you are going to have an income or health insurance. “
The former DHS official and his wife wrote a letter to the Biden DHS agency’s review team on January 13 to take full advantage. ‘[T]He stays 9-10 weeks providing federal employees, and that is critical to our family and livelihood while we work to raise a strong, healthy son under unique and unforeseen complications for our birth plan, ‘they wrote.
The presidential transitional office of the DHS told the couple in an email on January 18 that the benefits would not be passed on to the next government. “This is not what you were hoping for, but I think you also knew it was the most likely outcome,” the email read. “I’m sorry I carried the news, and I’m sorry I have no other news.”
The couple did not want to go on record out of fear of the political outburst when they are nominated in public and how it could negatively affect future jobs.
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It was just in December 2019, Congress passed the Paid Leave for Federal Employees Act, a law advocated by Ivanka Trump that gave federal government employees up to 12 weeks of free time for the birth of a new child. According to the law, which came into force last October, employees had to agree to work for at least twelve weeks after taking the benefit, although there is a question as to whether the requirement can be waived.
Be that as it may, it was an important advance in the status quo. Previously, federal employees were not given any free time and often had to give up unused vacations and sick days after the birth of a child or simply have to give up pay.
Still, Experts on parental leave policy say the cases of these Trump officials show the holes that still exist in the social safety net. As political appointments, they should have been aware that all benefits could end on January 20, as the administration they served could possibly come to an end. The experts also said that the Biden administration is under no legal obligation to grant Trump officials their leave.
But new administrations do not immediately kick out all political appointments from the previous one. Some experts said it would have been a good precedent for the Biden team to accommodate individuals on parental leave as a way to reinforce the importance of the policy.
“Paid parental leave is really important for the health of the mother, for the well – being of children, for family connections, and I can not imagine being in the shoes of new parents and not having the finances,” said Adrienne Schweer, a fellow at the Bipartisan Policy, said. Center that leads its task force to pay for family leave. ‘It can be a good thing to extend it to a few people for a few months. There are precedents for unique circumstances, and I would like to see a good example to ensure that as many people as possible can pay parental leave. “
As with virtually all jobs, most benefits are also done when a job ends (although former Trump officials were held by the government’s health insurance during the usual 31-day grace period). And with Biden’s acceptance, Trump officials demanded that their parental leave be fully respected, which is actually a special accommodation. The Biden government would have to keep these individuals – all political appointments – in the federal government, but not work, until their parental leave ended.
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Biden has long been a proponent of parental leave benefits. After the 2019 law was passed, he tweeted: “It is time for federal workers to get paid parental leave. It has been a long time since every American had 12 weeks of paid leave to address their own health needs or to look after their loved ones. ”
Trump, on the other hand, was a somewhat unorthodox adopter of the case. Republicans have long opposed federal requirements regarding such benefits and even when they began accepting reform, it was through conservative lenses. One prominent IDP proposal called for people to be able to draw from their social security to pay parental leave.
Trump officials who have received parental leave benefits have argued that since it became law, it is now a right – one that should be respected regardless of whether the presidency has changed ownership.
One former senior Trump official said he was coordinating with his HR team at his agency and was told the requirement that he work 12 weeks after their parental leave ended was absent from the mitigating circumstances of a new administration . He also reached out to the Personnel Management Office and was told to date his resignation letter on the last day of his paternity leave.
His wife had a baby girl in early December. He took three weeks of paternity leave before returning to work to deal with the aftermath of the January 6 riot on Capitol Hill. He says he lost nine weeks’ leave, which is equivalent to between $ 20,000 and $ 30,000.
“It’s not a right I asked for, but I feel it was earned after four years,” he said.
When some of the Trump political appointments found out that their full leave would not be granted, they raised the issue to the Biden transition team. But after initially believing that the incoming government would make those on leave work effectively, they soon said otherwise. The former senior Trump official said he now regrets his decision to stay until the end of the government.
‘I could have left earlier, but I did not, because I was told’ hey, you’re on paternity leave ‘, and if I knew you were not going to use your paternity leave and you were actually if I was just’ having a baby and then being discharged, I would probably have made a different decision, ‘he said.
The former official did not want to go on record, fearing it would affect his prospects of getting a job with a salary to support a family of five.
“It makes you look like you’re desperate for work, and a story about my money does not want to work well when I negotiate with people I talk to,” he said. “I try to convince everyone that I’m in a good situation.”