Last week, two federal judges ordered thousands of federal workers who were on probationary status when they were fired to be rehired at 18 federal agencies, including the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Education. The rulings came a day after the Department of Education announced massive staff cuts, part of the Trump administration’s efforts to shrink the federal workforce. 

Democratic Oregon US Senator Jeff Merkley joins us to discuss the mass firings of federal workers, as well as the vote on the stopgap funding bill to avert a government shutdown and possible cuts to Medicaid House Republicans are considering that could directly impact care for 1.4 million Oregonians.