The White House had briefings today featuring Karoline Leavitt, Stephen Miller and also Director of the National Economic Council Kevin Hassett. One topic of discussion was the Trump admin's goal of trimming the size of the federal government. 

A judge today ruled that the Trump White House could for now move forward with federal layoffs:

A federal judge Thursday refused a group of government employee unions’ request to block the Trump administration from moving ahead with plans to dramatically reduce the federal workforce.

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that federal law mandates the unions bring their challenge before the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), which adjudicates labor relations within the federal bureaucracy, rather than a federal district court.

Among the planned layoffs are several thousand employees at the Internal Revenue Service.

During his Q & A, Hassett was asked about federal workers who would be released for poor performance who dispute that, and he had a pretty straightforward answer for this particular journo: 

Ouch!

Hassett's answer certainly pulled no punches in a very polite kind of way.

There are a lot of things that journalists should know and yet don't seem to.