Will Obama Be Allowed to Violate the WARN Act?

U.S. SENATOR WARNS THAT “RULE OF LAW” NO LONGER EXISTS

by Sharon Rondeau

(Oct. 4, 2012) — On October 1, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina issued a press release on his website urging defense contractors to “follow the law” rather than Obama’s “dubious legal advice” in regard to bypassing the WARN Act, which requires employers to provide a 60-day notice of impending “mass” layoffs.

The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act was passed by Congress in 1988, taking effect on February 4, 1989 and applies to companies with 100 or more employees.  The purpose of the law is “to provide workers with sufficient time to prepare for the transition between the jobs they currently hold and new jobs…In order to assist in maintaining the stability of the economy, the U.S. Department of Labor is committed to providing adjustment services to workers and employers and their affected communities.”

Because of a $1 trillion reduction in military spending, large companies such as Lockheed Martin and Northrup Grumman have known since June that “sequestration,” which mandates cuts as a result of the debt ceiling agreement reached in Congress in August 2011 to avoid a default on the federal government’s debt, would mandate a reduction in their respective workforces.  The 28-page-long Budget Control Act imposed “ten-year discretionary caps with sequester,” meaning that spending limits are set in non-entitlement (discretionary) programs such as the FBI, education, housing assistance, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

A debt reduction of $900 billion was a component of the Act, which also mandates equal cuts in discretionary governmental sectors and defense if additional legislation were not passed by January 15, 2012.  The Congress failed to pass a new budget, ushering in sequestration.

The Act included a $54.7 billion reduction in defense spending by January 2013.  Sequestration for all sectors will take effect on January 2, but the Obama regime has instructed defense contractors not to issue layoff notices which have been perceived by many to be mandatory under the WARN Act.  Defense contractors have been preparing for the reductions.  Northrup Grumman has already reduced its workforce by 11% over the last four years.

The Obama regime not only told defense employers not to issue the layoff warnings, but also promised to reimburse the employers at taxpayer expense for any litigation which might arise from having circumvented the WARN Act.

Graham was a Judge Advocate General in the U.S. Air Force and serves on the Senate Appropriations and Armed Services Committees.  He has stated that Obama has subverted the rule of law by attempting a “mini-coup.”

A member of the House has said that Obama is “breaking the law,” and South Dakota Senator John Thune, Sen. John McCain and Sen. Kelly Ayotte have stated their opposition to the scheme, which would shield Obama from the fallout over large numbers of layoffs announced just before the November 6 election to observe the 60-day notice prior to January 2, 2013.

Fox News has reported that the regime has urged defense contractors twice to ignore the law, claiming that the budget cuts are not definite yet.

The Obama regime has ignored other laws such as the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and the Posse Comitatus Act.  Obama imposed the DREAM Act by executive order after the Congress failed to pass an immigration bill, allowing young illegal aliens to remain in the country despite the fact that they were brought to the United States illegally by their parents and are not citizens.

Obama’s constitutional eligibility as set forth in Article II, Section 1, clause 5 of the U.S. Constitution has been an open question since the presidential campaign of 2008.  John McCain’s eligibility was also questioned by some because he was not born on U.S. soil.  Since the controversy began, no court has ruled on the meaning of “natural born Citizen” or evidence that Obama has committed identity, Social Security, Selective Service, and election fraud.