Recognizing Federal Employees
Floor Speech
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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, since he took office, President Trump, his unelected billionaire buddy Elon Musk, and their DOGE bros have begun to systematically dismantle the Federal Government. In their efforts to root out so-called ``government waste,'' President Trump and Elon are targeting and illegally terminating the Federal workforce, the employees who make our country run.
These are the air traffic controllers who make sure your flights land safely, the workers responsible for sending Social Security checks out the door for millions of older Americans, the national security experts who keep our Nation safe from threats. These people are not loyal to any party or President. They are career civil servants devoted to serving Americans and answering to the Constitution. And they are being abruptly and illegally fired from critical positions across the government.
Today, I will share the stories of four Federal employees with ties to Illinois who have been terminated in the President's DOGE rampage.
One of my constituents has devoted his career to transit safety. He dreamed of working for the Federal Government. After working for a decade to make the Illinois transit system safer, he landed a job with the Federal Transit Administration in safety assurance, where he was hired to start a program that looked into transit safety hazards across the Nation.
But after President Trump took office, he started to receive strange emails about his job. He was still on probation, but his performance was excellent, and even his managers did not know who was sending the emails. That was until February 14, when he was emailed that he had been terminated for poor performance, despite there being zero documentation suggesting lackluster work and glowing appraisals from his managers.
He was given no severance or benefits. He was gutted. He had never been fired from a job before, and he loved his work. And more importantly, he worries about how he will take care of his two children--both of whom have autism.
We need Federal employees to ensure our public transportation systems are safe. But now, his job investigating transport hazards sits vacant. Public transport is less safe as a result.
How will firing transportation safety experts make America greater?
If you live in Chicago, you will remember last July's derecho, when a record-breaking 32 tornadoes ripped through the Chicagoland area. Eric Carothers remembers it well. At the time, he was an intern for the National Weather Service in Chicago under their Pathways student program, which allowed him to gain experience at the National Weather Service while he was earning his graduate degree in meteorology.
Eric has long been passionate about public service and meteorology. A career at the National Weather Service was a dream come true for him, and he expected to join its staff full-time after graduating from school this spring. That is until he was terminated last week--without cause.
Americans rely on the National Weather Service for everything from knowing when to pack an umbrella to avoid being caught in a thunderstorm to staying safe during tornado clusters. Eric explained that meteorologists at the National Weather Service are already understaffed and overworked. He fears for what the terminations of younger staff will mean for expertise when more senior forecasters retire. Without passionate, dedicated, trained meteorologists, Americans' lives and property are at risk.
How will firing workers in charge of warning the public of weather emergencies make America greater?
Few of the President's actions have been as repulsive as putting veterans in the crosshairs of so-called ``government waste.'' I want to share the story of one employee, a woman who worked at the Marion VA Medical Center in southern Illinois. Every year, this facility serves 43,000 veterans.
Like many VA employees, she received an email in the middle of the night informing her that she was fired from her logistical job that ensured the rural hospital's lab had what it needed for patient care. Her supervisor had no idea this was coming. Her coworkers were shocked. Her role was valuable to the lab, and she did good work. According to the cookie-cutter email, she, too, was being fired for ``poor performance.'' But how could that be true when she had just received an outstanding performance evaluation? It made no sense. And get this: She is a veteran. And her spouse is Active-Duty Army.
Not only does this senseless firing hurt someone who so bravely served our Nation, but it will impact the ability of other veterans to receive the healthcare and benefits they need, earned, and deserve.
How will firing veterans responsible for caring for other veterans make America greater?
Last, I want to reiterate that what we do here at home reverberates around the world. One of my constituents spent 10 years dedicating his life to U.S. foreign policy at the State Department and USAID. He was already among the last staffers at USAID, where rounds of firings have hollowed out the Agency.
But despite working for years to improve food security in countries of need around the world and despite exemplary performance reviews, he was fired. Further, he was posted overseas with a fellow public servant spouse. Now, he is essentially stranded abroad, fearing for his livelihood and future of his family.
How will firing and abandoning Americans dedicated to helping others make America greater?
Our Federal workforce is the backbone of this Nation. And their indiscriminate, unjust firings not only hurts them, but all Americans who rely on the government for critical services.
It seems that Donald Trump and Elon Musk have mistaken the Federal Government for Silicon Valley. The old adage ``move fast and break things'' might ring true in the tech industry. But, in Washington, ``moving fast and breaking things'' leads to chaos that everyday Americans bear the brunt of and suffer from.
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