Bloomberg Fires Campaign Staff Despite Promising Employment For Full Year

After former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced his exit from the Democratic nominee contest, his campaign staff expected to remain employed through November. That hasn’t turned out to be the case, however, as layoffs began this week.

Several Bloomberg aides reportedly told Politico that they had begun calling staffers to inform them they were being dismissed. Those staffers, however, have said that they were told when they were hired that they would remain employed by the former mayor into the fall, regardless of whether or not Bloomberg won the presidential nomination.

Most former staff members will be getting their final pay on March 31, and they will get to keep the iPhones and MacBooks given to them by the campaign.

Bloomberg intends to retain several campaign aides to continue work in six states – Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan – though it is unclear how many will stay on. They will work to boost former Vice President Joe Biden, who Bloomberg endorsed after dropping out of the race last week.

Bloomberg chose to end his campaign after a poor showing on Super Tuesday, when the former mayor won just 61 pledged delgates.

A spokesperson for Bloomberg said that all of the staffers being let go were not necessarily guaranteed employment through November. According to Politico, those who applied to join the former mayor’s campaign were informed about the intent to retain staff, though they were told that this would likely be location-dependent.

“This election will come down to six battleground states. It's imperative that we invest there with staff and infrastructure. Staff who were working in non-battleground states and would like to learn about future opportunities in the battleground states are being asked to let us know so we can consider them for jobs there,” the spokesperson said.

Per federal campaign financing rules, if Bloomberg intends to offer financial support to Biden’s campaign, he’ll have to utilize an entity legally separate from his campaign. One staffer said that they believed Bloomberg is “using the FEC regulations as an excuse to lay off a bunch of people.”

That entity will likely be Hawkfish, a separate group established by Bloomberg last year. It will not only help bolster Biden’s campaign, but will support Democrats in other elections being held in the six battleground states.