Murray: “Elon Musk and Donald Trump are proving every single day they don’t know what they are doing, they don’t know what our federal workers do, and they don’t care if their firing spree ends up burning down something important.”
***VIDEO HERE***
***WA FACT SHEET: Impact in Washington State of Trump and Musk’s Reckless Mass Layoffs***
Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, held a virtual press conference with federal workers in Washington state—including from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), National Park Service (NPS), and
Bonneville Power Administration (BPA)—who were recently laid off through no fault of their own and with zero justification, as part of Trump and Musk’s unprecedented assault on the federal workforce. The speakers underscored how Trump and Musk’s mass firings will severely jeopardize essential services that help families each and every day, and will leave us all worse off.Murray was joined for the press call by: Emily Conner, former Federal Transit Administration Region 10 FTA grants management specialist from Shoreline; Sam Peterson, former Park Ranger with the National Park Service at the Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area in Eastern Washington; and Katie Emerson, former Management and Program Analyst at the Bonneville Power Administration, who resides in Southwest Washington.
“Elon Musk and Donald Trump are proving every single day they don’t know what they are doing, they don’t know what our federal workers do, and they don’t care if their firing spree ends up burning down something important,” Senator Murray said. “Just this week, they fired another 1,400 staff at the VA—people who are helping serve our veterans, gone for no reason. And here’s the thing—they are still trying to fire even more people with even less forethought. The Trump-Musk firing spree continues to be about as surgical as a wrecking ball… These mass layoffs have nothing to do with government efficiency. In fact, they will do the exact opposite. Trump and Musk’s reckless firing spree means veterans waiting longer to get their disability claims approved, slower review of new drugs and medical devices, slower response to natural disasters, fewer people who help keep our skies safe for the flying public, and the list goes on.”
“These are real-life impacts on everyday people, regardless of political beliefs, affiliations, or how people voted. And the ultimate price for these sudden and chaotic staffing cuts is that the American people will pay for it literally with their time and their money–they just don’t realize it yet,” said Emily Conner, former Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Region 10 FTA grants management specialist from Shoreline who was abruptly laid off as part of Trump and Musk’s cuts through no fault of her own. “Federal workers are civil servants; they work to serve the American people, and they take that job very seriously. Now that there aren’t enough people left to do the work, there’ll be ripple effects across the entire country in small and large ways that people just don’t understand yet, and it’s only going to get worse with more force reductions.”
“The Park Service exists to do the incredibly challenging job of preserving America’s treasures while also sharing them with the public, but thousands of us do it with a smile on our face, and for less compensation that we could receive in the private sector. The Park Service really exists to help make and keep Americans happy and preserve everything that is great about our amazing nation. Without me on the job, and people like me, the existing staff will be stretched thin, safety issues will arise, and the services that the American taxpayer has already paid for won’t be present in our national park sites,” said Sam Peterson, a Park Ranger at the Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area in Eastern Washington who was recently laid off by Trump and Musk through no fault of his own and with zero justification.
“In addition to the excess workload, staffing shortages will lead to increased overtime and travel costs to get severely limited crews out for critical maintenance work and to respond to system outages. BPA response times to power outages in some locations may be delayed, as our crews are shorthanded and overworked,” said Katie Emerson, a Program Analyst at the Bonneville Power Administration who had worked at BPA for more than 10 years as a contractor and direct employee before being laid off without cause as part of the probationary firings. “Staff shortages will also force already-planned power grid enhancement and expansion projects to be delayed, projects intended to strengthen power grid stability. Staff shortages will be felt not just in the present term, but also in the long term. Electrical apprenticeship recruitment and hiring for 2025 was cancelled. It takes four years to train these employees to be at full capacity, so this single year delay will be felt for many years to come.”
Senator Murray has been raising the alarm about how mass firings at all manner of federal agencies will hurt families, veterans, small businesses, farmers, and so many others in Washington state and across the country. Senator Murray has spoken out on the Senate floor against this administration’s attacks on federal workers and held multiple press conferences to call attention to how Trump and Musk’s mass layoffs are hurting federal workers in Washington state and undermining services for everyone. Earlier this month, she released both a national fact sheet and a Washington state fact sheet detailing what we know about the mass layoffs so far. Senator Murray also sent an open letter to federal workers and a newsletter to her constituents in Washington state outlining her concerns with the administration’s so-called “Fork in the Road” offer.
Senator Murray has also sent a flurry of recent oversight letters demanding answers about indiscriminate staffing reductions across federal agencies—including letters to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on mass firings across HHS as well as a letter focused specifically on firings at FDA, Energy Secretary Chris Wright on indiscriminate firings at BPA, HUD Secretary Scott Turner on reports of massive staff cuts at HUD, Interior Secretary Doug Burham on National Parks Service staffing cuts, and Acting USDA Secretary Gary Washington on the universal hiring pause for USDA firefighters, among others.
Senator Murray’s full remarks, as delivered on today’s press call, are below and video is HERE:
“Thank you all so much for joining me in this this conversation. Here’s where we are: the fact of the matter is Elon Musk and Donald Trump are proving every single day they do not know what theyare doing, they don’t know what our federal workers actually do, and they don’t care if their firing spree ends up burning down something really important.
“And it’s not just because they’re just out of touch billionaires—though they clearly are out of touch billionaires—because maybe that would explain why they don’t care if firing staff who help child care and Head Start centers keep their doors open makes it harder for parents to get child care, or firing Social Security workers, which cuts off our seniors from help with their benefits, or firing our BPA workers which will raise energy costs for our families.
“But still, even people like Trump and Elon who take private jets everywhere should understand you do not fire FAA workers weeks after the deadliest crash in decades—that, to me, is just common sense!
“But Trump and Musk have shown they couldn’t care less—even if lives are at stake. Unbelievably, they have fired public health experts working on bird flu—and even nuclear weapons experts!
“If Trump and Musk stopped and used a single brain cell for a single second, the danger of firing nuclear experts willy-nilly would have been obvious.
“But no, it was only after a public outcry—when everyone pointed out what should have been obvious—that they tried to reverse course and hire some of them back.
“Just this week, they fired another 1,400 staff at the VA—people who are helping serve our veterans, gone for no reason. And here’s the thing—they are still trying to fire even more people with even less forethought.
“The Trump-Musk firing spree continues to be about as surgical as a wrecking ball.
“First, it was that scammy ‘Fork in the Road’ email—which they’ve been awfully quiet about since their latest email.
“Then it was firing everyone who was new, or who was newly promoted. They didn’t target low performers—they targeted some of our highest performers.
“And now they want to lay off anyone who didn’t respond quickly enough to an email that they sent out over the weekend. Of course, we all know they’re not going to read millions of responses.
“Which is unfortunate, actually, because Elon and Trump clearly do need to learn a thing or two about what our workers actually do, and how important it is. They obviously do not have the slightest idea.
“And now, it is being reporting that they just want to chuck all of these responses into some AI they’ve cooked up for firing people. Honestly, with as thoughtless as Trump and Musk are sometimes—I can almost see why they’re so desperate for artificial intelligence to do the thinking that they don’t seem to be capable of.
“But that is no way to treat people who have dedicated themselves to our country—often for years, and many of them, by the way, are veterans!
“That’s right: nearly one-third of our federal workforce are veterans, people who have literally put their lives on the line for our country—and now, we’re all seeing what Trump and Musk think about that.
“And let’s be clear: these mass layoffs have nothing to do with government efficiency. In fact, they will do the exact opposite.
“Trump and Musk’s reckless firing spree means veterans waiting longer to get their disability claims approved, slower review of new drugs and medical devices, slower response to natural disasters, fewer people who help keep our skies safe for the flying public, and the list goes on.
“President Trump and Elon Musk may not actually care who they fire, what these workers do, and what pain and danger it will mean for our families.
“But I understand it, and unlike them—I actually want to focus this conversation on what our federal workers actually do and how firing them, en masse, without rhyme or reason, hurts the American people in a big way.
“So today, I want to give the floor to some dedicated federal workers who can talk about the work they were doing—before Trump and Musk sent them packing for no reason—and why it is important for all of us.
“Because these are not just the people who keep America going—they are some of the people who make America great. So, with that, I want to turn it over to three people who have been fired to share with you their stories—and I’m going to start with Emily.”
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