On Valentine’s Day, Nicole Smith found out via email that she was let go from the Environmental Protection Agency. Within about 30 minutes, she was locked out of her work accounts. “Most of the new hires that were fired are young people that are going to be the next generation of scientists protecting clean air, clean water and clean land,” Smith said. “We’re being targeted.” Smith, who had worked at the environmental agency as a life scientist for two months, was among more than 200 people who rallied in downtown’s Federal Plaza on Tuesday afternoon to push back on President Donald Trump’s sweeping efforts to cut government spending and reduce the size of the federal workforce.
Thanks to our sponsors:
The rally was hosted by the American Federation of Government Employees Local 704, a union that represents about 1,000 EPA employees across the Midwest, and the Federal Unionist Network, an informal association of federal union members and allies. In an
executive order signed last week, Trump told agency leaders to plan for “large-scale reductions” after an initial attempt to downsize the workforce —
the voluntary buyout — was accepted by only 75,000 workers. The mass firings are being led in collaboration with billionaire Elon Musk and his so-called Department of Government Efficiency. The Trump administration ordered federal agencies to lay off probationary employees, who generally have less than one year on the job and have not yet qualified for civil service protections. Nyla McCranie was laid off after three months working as a physical scientist with the EPA. During a rally speech, McCranie said one of the most impactful encounters in her job was working on a case involving a rural Ohio woman who called for help after a corporation had recently bought land near her home and began emitting toxic air pollutants through the process of open-burns of lithium ion batteries. “I want everybody to think about that situation and how many other people are in rural areas, and even in urban areas, who will not be heard,” McCranie said. “Their concerns will not be heard if there are no more federal workers, if there’s no one working on environmental health, safety.” In addition to the EPA, the mass layoffs targeting probationary employees are hitting a variety of other federal agencies including the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , the
Federal Aviation Administration , the
Department of Veterans Affairs and more. A former EPA enforcement investigator and Navy veteran, who asked not to be named due to fear of retaliation, said they received a phone call from their supervisor Saturday morning that they had been laid off from their job the night before. The former employee said they were let go because of “inadequate performance” despite having received “exceptional” performance reviews from supervisors. The employee, who had been with the EPA since the summer, had moved their entire family to Chicago for the job. “I’m a disabled vet and the only thing I ever asked for from this country was this job, and they took it,” said the former EPA employee, who fought back tears. “I made all the money for my family. We don’t know what we’re going to do.” On Monday, more than a dozen Illinois congressional legislators and labor leaders met in Chicago
to push back on Trump’s widespread funding and staffing cuts. Luis Antonio Flores is an EPA chemist. Despite having been with the agency for five years, he said he is still concerned about losing his job. “If the true goal is to reduce the size of government, reduce spending, there’s a very clear way to do this that has been done before in many administrations where it’s not damaging the function of these agencies,” Flores said. “From (Trump’s) actions, it’s not about saving a buck. It’s about damaging these agencies, these departments, and putting on a show.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report. Thanks to our sponsors:
Thanks to our sponsors:
