Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce Fact Briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.
At-will employment is the law in every state except Montana.
That generally means employees in every other state can be fired at any time for any reason.
Montana allows at-will termination only during an employee’s probation period.
At-will also means employers can change the terms of the employment, such as wages or hours, with no notice.
There are at-will exceptions.
Firing cannot be illegal. For example, an employee can’t be terminated based on discrimination.
Also, employees who have a contract or are covered by union collective bargaining agreements are not at-will. Many government employees are not at-will.
Wisconsin has another exception, established by the state Supreme Court: A termination isn’t legal if it “clearly contravenes the public welfare and gravely violates paramount requirements of public interest.”
Other countries generally allow employers to fire employees only for cause, such as poor performance.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Can employers fire workers for any reason in Wisconsin and nearly every other state? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.
Wisconsin has thousands of assisted living providers. Some are small houses; others are more like apartment complexes. Some take Medicaid, while others require residents to pay out of pocket. It’s a lot to sort through, especially when someone needs care fast.
Searching “assisted living” on Google pulls up several pages of facilities, many listed under a prominent “sponsored results” section.
Mixed in with actual providers are referral companies that promise a way to compare options. Long-term care referral companies don’t typically charge families for their services. Instead, they often receive money from facilities they recommend.
Wisconsin lawmakers in May proposed legislation to make any financial relationships between a referral agency and an assisted living facility clearer.
Supporters of the bill said disclosure requirements could help families make more informed decisions. Opposing the bill, referral companies argue that they are already transparent and that proposed guardrails would prevent them from helping more families.
The bill failed to pass before the Assembly adjourned last month. But the debate left me wondering: Where should someone start the search for care?
Aging and disability resource centers (ADRCs) can provide objective provider lists for free, alongside information about services and payment options, said Janet Zander, the advocacy and public policy coordinator with the Greater Wisconsin Agency on Aging Resources, Inc.
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services lists ADRCs by county online.
ADRCs cannot recommend one facility over another, Zander said. But they can suggest what to look for during a tour. Zander also recommends looking at a facility’s Wisconsin Division of Quality Assurance surveys.
They can also help people identify what kind of care makes the most sense and explore aging at home, said Sara Tribe Clark, the director of the Eldercare Locator, which offers local resources for older adults, people with disabilities and caregivers.
Tribe Clark recommends asking:
Getting answers to my own questions is a perk of being a reporter. But I haven’t yet navigated Wisconsin’s aging and disability resources for myself or a loved one. I know I’m missing important questions, so please send me yours, alongside your perspectives.
What has been confusing or frustrating about finding care?
What do you wish you’d known sooner?
What made the process easier?
Even after more than two years reporting on long-term care in Wisconsin, I won’t have all the answers. But I will find experts who do. Email me at acostello@wisconsinwatch.org or call 608-616-5239.
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup.
Finding long-term care is hard. Here’s how to start. is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.
In the State of the Tribes address, Red Cliff Chair Nicole Boyd voiced concerns of tribal nations statewide, as well as those shared at the state Capitol’s concurrent Superior Days event.
The post ‘North of Highway 29’: Tribal leader highlights northern Wisconsin priorities appeared first on WPR.
A Republican bill would allow the sale of public lands near a commercial egg farm as one of the country’s largest egg producers in Wisconsin has been forced to cull millions of birds due to avian flu.
The post GOP lawmakers want to allow sale of public lands near egg farm amid bird flu outbreaks appeared first on WPR.
The Legislature's budget committee voted Wednesday to give more than $14 million a year to UW-Madison for athletic facilities costs as the sports powerhouse pays student athletes for “name, image, likeness” deals, known as NIL.
The post Legislative committee advances funds so UW-Madison can pay student athletes appeared first on WPR.
In the latest chapter of a long-running dispute between the Republican-controlled Legislature and the state's Democratic attorney general, the Wisconsin Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday over which side controls money from multi-state settlements.
The post Wisconsin Supreme Court hears arguments in political struggle over state settlement funds appeared first on WPR.
A group of taxpayers alleges the Legislature has spent millions of dollars since 2019 pursuing legal cases with public money for partisan ends.
The post Wisconsin Legislature sued over use of private lawyers appeared first on WPR.
A federal complaint filed Wednesday alleges Oconto Falls School District officials overlooked sexual abuse of students for 20 years.
The post Federal complaint alleges ongoing sexual abuse in Oconto Falls School District appeared first on WPR.
A bill in the state Legislature would require local governments to OK solar and wind projects before those projects can be approved by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin.
The post State bill would require solar, wind projects get local approval before state approval appeared first on WPR.
Deputies with the Shawano County Sheriff's Office were dispatched to a "disturbance" at a residence in the town of Green Valley at approximately 1:41 a.m. Tuesday morning, according to a statement from DOJ.
The post Wisconsin DOJ investigating fatal officer-involved shooting in Shawano County appeared first on WPR.
A sign at a Wisconsin pharmacy advertises vaccine availability in December. Wisconsin is among the states that now rely on non-federal sources of childhood vaccine guidance as the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention de-emphasizes vaccines. (Photo by Erik Gunn/Wisconsin Examiner)
Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia now reject at least some federal vaccine guidance as the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to de-emphasize the importance of childhood vaccinations under U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., according to research by KFF, a nonprofit health policy organization based in California and Washington, D.C.
The tally as of March 10 reflects states that have announced they will go their own way on childhood vaccines since last May, when Kennedy began to make changes to the vaccine schedule. Those changes culminated with a reduction in recommended routine childhood vaccinations, from 13 to 7, as of January.
New state-by-state recommendations reflect a partisan divide, as all states with Democratic governors have rejected federal childhood vaccine guidance while many Republican states have not.
Virginia announced in February that it would not follow CDC guidelines, a change after the inauguration of Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger, who took over after a Republican predecessor. Spanberger had campaigned on the issue, saying she would not support a rollback of childhood vaccinations.
In Florida, the state Senate passed a bill March 9 making it easier for parents to let their children go unvaccinated, though state House leaders have said they will not consider a similar bill despite support for it from Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.
In Louisiana, the state has adopted a policy of not promoting vaccines or holding clinics. Republican U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, a physician who reluctantly agreed to Kennedy’s confirmation despite objecting to his views on vaccines, is facing a primary fight.
Fifteen Democrat-led states sued Kennedy in federal court in February, seeking a reversal of the new vaccine guidelines. A preliminary hearing is scheduled May 29.
Some states have created formal alliances to share health information. The Northeast Public Health Collaborative, composed of Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York state, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and New York City, said in January it will continue following guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics instead of the federal government.
The American Academy of Pediatrics released its immunization schedule for 2026, which kept in place the schedule as it was before HHS’s overhaul. Twelve medical professional organizations endorsed the academy’s schedule.
And governors of 14 states have formed another alliance to share public health information, including on vaccines. The updated CDC guidance “creates confusion and introduces unnecessary barriers for families who want to protect their children from serious illness,” said the Governors Public Health Alliance in a January news release. The governors are all Democrats, though the group says it is nonpartisan.
Stateline reporter Tim Henderson can be reached at thenderson@stateline.org.
This story was originally produced by Stateline, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network which includes Wisconsin Examiner, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 9, 2024. (Photo by Jane Norman/States Newsroom)
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration Wednesday made an emergency request to the U.S. Supreme Court to allow the revocation of legal status for more than 350,000 Haitians, opening them up to deportations.
U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer asked the justices to block a lower court’s ruling that found the Trump administration unlawfully ended Temporary Protected Status for Haiti.
TPS is a status given to nationals who hail from a country deemed too dangerous for return. The program grants work permits and deportation protections through renewal cycles ranging from six to 18 months.
As President Donald Trump aims to carry out mass deportations, the administration has moved to revoking legal status, such as TPS, for millions of immigrants, which means they then may be deported.
In court filings, Sauer argued that the decision from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia harms the Trump administration’s “national interest and foreign relations.”
He added that TPS is supposed to be “temporary,” and notes that Haiti has had the designation since 2010.
The high court asked for a response by Monday from attorneys representing the TPS holders who initially sued.
Haiti first received TPS designation after a devastating earthquake in 2010, and had it renewed following the president’s assassination in 2021 by gangs.
The Trump administration moved to end TPS designation by Feb. 3. But Haitian TPS holders sued, arguing that the end of the designation did not take into account the country’s current condition. Haiti is dealing with gang violence and political instability.
The Trump administration has also asked the high court to allow for the stripping of TPS for 6,000 Syrian nationals. The Supreme Court has not ruled on that emergency appeal yet.
The Trump administration has sought to end legal protections for immigrants with TPS status.
So far, the administration has revoked TPS status for 13 of the 17 countries that were designated at the start of the president’s second term.
Those 13 countries are Afghanistan, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Haiti, Honduras, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen.
The four remaining countries with TPS expiring this year without an extension are El Salvador, Lebanon, Sudan and Ukraine.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth listens to questions during a news conference at the Pentagon on March 2, 2026 in Arlington, Virginia. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — The Department of Defense must quickly release the results of its investigation into whether the U.S. military bombed a girls’ elementary school in Iran that left at least 168 people dead, according to a letter sent Wednesday that was signed by nearly every Senate Democrat.
“To be clear, the war against Iran is a war of choice without Congressional authorization,” they wrote. “Nonetheless, as these military actions continue, the United States and Israel must abide by U.S. and international law, including the law of armed conflict.”
The letter from 46 senators to Secretary Pete Hegseth calls on Pentagon officials to conduct “a swift investigation into the strikes on this school and any other potential U.S. military actions causing civilian harm, and the findings must be released to the public as soon as possible, along with any measures to pursue accountability.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Defense said in a statement the “incident is under investigation.”
President Donald Trump said while leaving the White House Wednesday that he didn’t know anything about preliminary reports that the U.S. is responsible for the bombing. The New York Times reported earlier in the day that an “ongoing military investigation has determined that the United States is responsible for a deadly Tomahawk missile strike on an Iranian elementary school.”
The lawmakers’ letter requests the Pentagon answer a series of questions, including
The letter was signed by Arizona Sens. Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly, California Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, Colorado Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, Connecticut Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, Delaware Sens. Lisa Blunt Rochester and Chris Coons, Georgia Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, Hawaii Sens. Mazie Hirono and Brian Schatz, Illinois Sens. Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin, Maryland Sens. Angela Alsobrooks and Chris Van Hollen, Massachusetts Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren, Michigan Sens. Gary Peters and Elissa Slotkin, Minnesota Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, Nevada Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen, New Hampshire Sens. Maggie Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen, New Jersey Sens. Cory Booker and Andy Kim, New Mexico Sens. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján, New York Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer, Oregon Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, Rhode Island Sens. Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, Vermont Sen. Peter Welch, Virginia Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, Washington Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, and Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin. All are Democrats.
Maine Sen. Angus King and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, both independents who caucus with the Democrats, signed the letter as well.
Pennsylvania’s John Fetterman was the sole Democrat not to sign the letter.
Attorney General Josh Kaul speaks with reporters outside the Wisconsin Supreme Court in February 2023. (Wisconsin Examiner photo)
The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Wednesday heard oral arguments in a case that centers on a dispute between state Attorney General Josh Kaul, a Democrat, and the Republican-controlled Legislature about who controls money the Department of Justice is awarded as part of lawsuit settlements.
The suit is yet another challenge to the lame duck laws Republican legislators and outgoing Gov. Scott Walker enacted in 2018 in the days before the end of Walker’s term and another instance of the Supreme Court stepping in to enforce the separation of powers between Wisconsin’s executive and legislative branches.
Under several provisions of the lame duck laws, the Legislature sought to limit the executive branch’s authority to spend money. The Supreme Court previously struck down provisions that required the approval of legislative committees before executive agencies could act.
The Legislature argues that under the law, the attorney general is required to put money from a financial settlement into the state’s general fund, which legislators control through the normal budget process. Kaul argues he can put the settlement funds in accounts controlled by DOJ but doesn’t have the authority to spend those funds without approval from the Legislature’s budget-writing Joint Finance Committee.
Initially filed in Polk County Circuit Court in 2021, when a conservative majority controlled the Supreme Court, the case appeared in the 2nd District Court of Appeals in 2024 where a 2-1 decision reversed the circuit court’s ruling that Kaul could direct settlement funds into DOJ accounts.
That majority opinion was authored by Judge Maria Lazar, a conservative judge now running for a seat on the Supreme Court.
“Despite the legislation expressly designed to bring all settlement funds under legislative control and despite the simple and plain language of that legislation, the Attorney General has continued to act precisely in the manner which the Legislature sought to end,” Lazar wrote.
Generally, conservative legal interpretations of the law involve strict adherence to the exact language of a statute while liberal legal interpretations take into account intent. In this case, that typical structure is flipped. The DOJ argues that it is following the exact language of the law by directing the settlement money into accounts for specific DOJ programs that fall under the umbrella of the general fund and not spending those funds without approval from JFC. DOJ also notes that historically, Wisconsin attorneys general have had broad authority to spend settlement money.
DOJ attorney Hannah Jurss argued to the Court Wednesday that it isn’t DOJ’s fault the Legislature wasn’t precise enough when crafting the law — though the law has effectively cut off Kaul’s ability to direct the expenditure of settlement funds.
“We now do not have discretion to expend those monies. So if the intention was to prevent the attorney general’s expenditure of settlement funds as properly understood, it did that,” Jurss said. “There are now monies sitting there that are left to the attorney general’s discretion that the attorney general cannot spend. Instead, I think what the court is seeing in the Legislature’s arguments are unsupported assertions about some sort of broader intent that, frankly, have no support whatsoever in the text of the statutes, in statutory history.”
Jurss added that a similar structure guides the budget statutes across state government, so if the Court sided with the Legislature, much of the existing budget framework would be affected. She noted programs in the Departments of Tourism and Military Affairs that would be hit.
“This Court should not cut the wire on the budget statute structure across Wisconsin statutes simply for the Legislature to accomplish its preferred outcome here,” she said.
Misha Tseytlin, the attorney for the Legislature — whose former position as state solicitor general was cut by the Legislature in the lame duck laws — argued the Court should side with the Legislature to stop Kaul from finding ways around the law.
“Because the attorney general had found his way around the Legislature’s prior attempt,” Tseytlin said. “I know there’s not a lot of sympathy for the Legislature from the courts, but imagine how frustrating it is. You’re trying to rein in the attorney general, you’re trying to get them to stop these practices, you enact this JFC provision, and they find a way around that.”
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A TSA officer's badge can be seen on their shirt as people travel through Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Nov. 7, 2025, in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Megan Varner/Getty Images)
Passengers at a handful of airports this week waited in hours-long security lines as the government shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security dragged on.
Though Transportation Security Administration officers are required by law to work during a lapse in funding, more than usual have been absent after receiving only a partial paycheck during the most recent pay period. TSA officers will miss an entire paycheck this weekend if the shutdown is still in effect then.
No end to the shutdown appeared imminent Wednesday, as the U.S. Senate rejected a bill that would have funded TSA and other agencies in DHS that are not related to immigration enforcement.
In the meantime, TSA officers are not being paid.
Most live paycheck-to-paycheck, said Johnny Jones, the secretary-treasurer of the American Federation of Government Employees Council 100, which represents TSA agents.
The lack of pay has contributed to absenteeism, Jones added. The union does not condone coordinated “sick-outs,” which are illegal.
But individual officers miss work for one of three reasons during a shutdown, he said: pre-planned time off, legitimate illness or personal emergencies, and those calling in sick but seeking other work to pay bills.
“If you’re normally receiving a paycheck, you wouldn’t have that third group,” he said.
Some of those who are working are going without lunch or making other sacrifices, Jones added. And he said two colleagues were evicted during the most recent shutdown last fall, which lasted for 43 days.
The U.S. war against Iran, which has an estimated price in the billions of dollars in just its first two weeks, has also driven resentment among TSA workers, Jones said.
“One of the things that I’ve heard from the colleagues is that, man, we got plenty of money to go fight wars and bomb Iran, but we can’t pay our own employees,” he said.
No exceptionally long wait times were reported Wednesday, but the previous few days saw several examples of snarled security lines.
Security lines topped three hours at Houston’s William P. Hobby International Airport on Monday and Tuesday.
Lines at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport were up to two hours Monday and the airport’s social media drew a direct line to the shutdown.
“Due to impacts from the federal government’s partial shutdown, there continues to be a shortage of TSA workers at the security checkpoint … which is causing longer-than-average lines,” the airport’s X account posted.
Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport also urged passengers to leave extra time to account for factors including “TSA staffing constraints.”
CBS News reported Wednesday that more than 300 TSA agents have left their jobs since the shutdown began. TSA officials did not respond to messages seeking confirmation of that figure.
The top Democrat on the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, Washington’s Patty Murray, sought unanimous consent Wednesday for the Senate to approve a bill that would fund all of DHS other than Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, and the secretary’s office.
Sen. Katie Britt, an Alabama Republican who chairs the subcommittee on Homeland Security funding, objected.
Murray’s bill “would effectively defund our law enforcement officers that are charged with keeping Americans safe,” Britt said.
Each party blamed the other for the impasse, which has been unbreachable since the department’s funding lapsed Feb. 14.
Following the January fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by immigration officers in Minneapolis, Democrats are demanding changes to immigration agencies’ conduct as a condition of funding the department.
Republicans have said they are willing to negotiate the issue, but the parties disagree on what to do for the department, which also includes the Coast Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, in the meantime.
Republican leaders sought to pass a short-term continuing resolution to fund the entire department, but Democrats rejected it, saying it would allow the operation of immigration agencies without adding accountability measures.
“Right now, TSA agents are going without pay because Republicans and the White House have decided they would rather shut down all of DHS than pass some very basic reforms to rein in ICE and Border Patrol,” Murray said. “We also want TSA and FEMA funded, but we are not going to be blackmailed into cutting a blank check for ICE to get it done.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, of South Dakota, said Democrats have stopped negotiating on DHS funding in a bid to keep the issue alive for the November midterm elections.
“The American people are tired,” he said. “Lines get longer at the airports because TSA isn’t funded. The American people want us to do our jobs. Republicans are at the table. We’re ready to work toward a solution. Democrats have walked away.”
Jones, the AFGE member and TSA officer, declined to say which approach to short-term funding was preferable, but said it was Congress’ job to fund the federal government.
“We all swear the same oath to the same Constitution,” he said. “Now my job function is a little different than theirs, so they need to do theirs so I can do mine.”
The U.S. Department of Education on Feb. 20, 2026. (Photo by Shauneen Miranda/States Newsroom)
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Democrats and education advocates Wednesday marked one year since the U.S. Department of Education initiated sweeping mass layoffs.
Those layoffs set the stage for more unprecedented efforts from President Donald Trump’s administration over the past year to wind down the 46-year-old agency as part of his quest to return education “back to the states.”
Meanwhile, a new report from the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office found that the staffing reductions affected the government’s ability to determine how well student loan servicers are doing their jobs.
Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono hosted the press conference outside the U.S. Capitol, joined by fellow Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, along with advocates, to underscore the impact of the mass layoffs and other major cuts on students and families across the country.
The U.S. Supreme Court in July 2025 temporarily greenlit the mass layoffs, along with Trump’s plan to dramatically downsize the agency, which he had outlined in an executive order signed later in March 2025.
Rachel Gittleman, president of American Federation of Government Employees Local 252, which represents Education Department workers, said the administration “has shown it will stop at nothing, even ignoring court orders and violating federal law to dismantle the department and sow chaos for students, families, communities and my coworkers.”
“They will continue to undermine the careers of thousands of dedicated public servants who work every day to support our students and families,” Gittleman added.
The March 2025 Reduction in Force, or RIF, effort, hit wide swaths of the agency, taking heavy hits to units such as the Office for Civil Rights and Federal Student Aid.
Two Government Accountability Office reports — including the one released Wednesday — underscored the impact of the staffing reductions at these two units on the department’s abilities to carry out its key responsibilities.
In February 2025, FSA “stopped assessing student loan servicers on accuracy and call quality due to lack of staff capacity,” the government watchdog reported.
Between January and December 2025, the department saw a drop in 656 staffers at FSA, according to the report.
“By not assessing servicer accuracy and call quality, FSA lacks assurance that borrower records are correct and that servicers are giving borrowers quality information,” according to the GAO report.
Another GAO report, released in February, found that the Education Department spent between roughly $28.5 million and $38 million on the salaries and benefits of the hundreds of OCR employees not working between March and December 2025, who were put on paid administrative leave while legal challenges against the administration unfolded.
The government watchdog found that despite the department resolving more than 7,000 of the over 9,000 discrimination complaints it received between March and September, roughly 90% of the resolved complaints were due to the department dismissing the complaint.
The agency later moved to rescind the RIFs against the OCR employees in early January while legal challenges proceeded.
“So they wasted taxpayer money while they also tried to undermine the laws of the United States that guarantee civil rights to every student,” Van Hollen said during Wednesday’s press conference.
Members of Congress and advocates also pushed back against the Education Department’s several interagency agreements with other departments, which transfer many of its responsibilities to Labor, Health and Human Services, Interior and State.
The department has clarified in fact sheets regarding the agreements that it would “maintain all statutory responsibilities” and oversight of the programs involved.
The effort has drawn strong backlash from Democratic members of Congress, labor unions and advocates.
“Trump is setting these programs up to fail,” Hirono said, adding that by “shoving these programs to departments that do not have the experience or wherewithal to run these programs, he is setting these programs that our kids rely on (up) for failure.”
Meanwhile, Congress earlier this year rebuked a request from the president to dramatically slash funding for the department as he and his administration seek to dismantle it.
Trump signed a measure in February that funds the department at $79 billion this fiscal year — roughly $217 million more than the agency’s fiscal 2025 funding level and a whopping $12 billion above what Trump sought.
The spending package does not provide ironclad language to prevent the outsourcing of the department’s responsibilities, but it does direct the department and the agencies part of the transfers to provide biweekly briefings to lawmakers on the implementation of any interagency agreements.
The department did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
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