During a Town Hall in Rochester, Minnesota, a federal employee, cut by DOGE, shared her story with Democratic Attorneys General.
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00:00Hi. My name is Elena. I was a federal employee who, like tens of thousands, was unlawfully
00:11terminated because I was in my role for less than a year and therefore did not have full
00:16protections yet. The stated reason, as we've heard, was for performance. Despite having
00:20a positive record, I'm here to explain how having my job suddenly and illegally ripped
00:24away has impacted my life. Quote, the way to greater American prosperity is encouraging
00:31people to move from lower productivity jobs in the public sector to higher productivity
00:37jobs in the private sector. That was a line in one of the many chaotic, conflicting, and
00:43often threatening emails that I and 2.4 million other federal servants received from the Office
00:48of Personnel Management and the Department of Government Efficiency. I was in disbelief
00:54when I read that line, and I'm still floored and angry at how insulting, dismissive, and
01:00flat-out wrong that statement is. I could talk about how my job was to help agencies
01:13and their services be more efficient and was terminated anyway, and how it was an honor
01:17to serve my country. But for the sake of time, I want to keep the focus on the last part
01:22of that sentence, the way to greater American prosperity. Is being terminated with 20 minutes'
01:28notice and based on a lie about my performance the way to greater American prosperity? No.
01:35Because of the reckless actions of this administration, I've been unemployed for over a month. I lost
01:40my health insurance. I didn't get a severance, so I'm tapping into my emergency fund to pay
01:44my rent and bills. I've been dropped into a saturated job market. The private sector
01:50layoffs are not easing up and hiring is slowing down. And we're teetering on the edge of an
01:55economic recession, the second of my generation's adulthood that created for me 15 years of
02:01low-paying or unstable jobs, freelancing without benefits, and a competitive job market where
02:06an undergraduate degree that I still have student loans for was no longer a leg up.
02:12I had hoped that this federal government job, the job that took me 11 months to interview
02:18for and pass security background checks to start, could finally provide the stability
02:23that my partner and I—sorry—that my partner and I needed to achieve the things long considered
02:37to be the American dream. Now we are forced to put our plans of starting a family, of
02:42owning a home on hold indefinitely. And I fear that this disruption of this dream will
02:48be felt for the rest of our lives. A version of my story is happening right now for an
02:54estimated 200,000 other federal employees and their families across the country and
02:59more soon with the upcoming reductions in force that are soon to hit the rest of the
03:03federal government. Is dumping a high record number of people on unemployment and growing
03:08recession the way to greater American prosperity? And along with that, this administration is
03:15eliminating how our society ensures we have decent education, safe and reliable food,
03:20scientific research advances, consumer protections, clean air and water, Social Security, Medicare,
03:25Medicaid, international diplomacy, civil rights, democratic values, and all of the things that
03:30once made this country the place where greater prosperity was possible. It's that prosperity
03:42that my grandparents were able to immigrate here to achieve only to have it now become
03:46unachievable for their descendant. Is dismantling our public institutions and services the way
03:51to greater American prosperity? So I ask, who exactly are the ones prospering? Because
03:59the moves that this administration is making increase the prosperity for billionaires while
04:02stripping it away from us, the people. How much more loss can our economy, our health,
04:08our society and all of our dignities take? How long will our elected officials be willing
04:13to allow true American dreams to be ripped away from the working and middle class families?
04:17And how long will regular people like me tolerate it? I thank you, Attorneys General, for doing
04:23what's right and fighting for with us. And thank you everyone for being here. I urge
04:28everyone to join in and fight back. Call your representatives. Hold them accountable
04:32and don't let up. We need to take back our democracy so we can start rebuilding the workforce
04:37that provides the public services we need to survive in this country. The things that
04:41make it possible to actually create the way to greater American prosperity for us all.
04:46Elaine, hang on. So one of the important reasons for us to be here is that we, and
05:00we, this happened in Phoenix too, we learned new information, okay? And I want to ask this
05:05of you and at some point we need to get the information from the other fired federal employees.
05:11You're a probationary employee, correct?
05:13Correct.
05:14Let me ask you, have you been contacted by the Trump administration or is it the VA that
05:21you worked at? No, okay. Your agency to be rehired yet?
05:24I have not.
05:25Okay. So we won a case last week to our two federal judges, including in a lawsuit that
05:31the AGs filed, won a case last week that requires them to rehire you. And so, but what
05:45we're hearing is you have not been rehired. What we're hearing is you have not been rehired
05:52yet, is that correct?
05:53That's correct.
05:54Okay. And then I want to, we want that information from the other individuals. Have you been
05:58re-contacted by your agency? And it will go into, we'll use that to make our decision
06:04about whether we go back and seek a motion to compel against the administration.
06:12Good job. Again, you know, these hearings, they're not just speak outs. We're actually
06:21gathering evidence from you. When we go and file a lawsuit and then go into court and
06:28get a temporary restraining order or a preliminary injunction and they're not doing it, we need
06:33to know about that. And so thank you for having the courage to come forward. If you don't
06:38speak today, it's okay. Reach out to my office. And if you live in Minnesota and we will bring
06:45this evidence forward. Real quick, everybody, real quick, very quick, write this number
06:51down. Y'all ready? Write it down. I'm going to give you a few seconds. I'll repeat it
06:57later. 651-296-3353. So who didn't get it? 651-296-3353.
07:16And our call center going to be ringing tomorrow, ain't it? But we need you guys to call in
07:25because we go to court. We fight these cases. We win them. And sometimes they don't comply.
07:33And we need to know. Yeah, there are a lot of things. We could bring a motion to enforce.
07:41We can bring perhaps a motion for contempt. There's a lot of things. But if we don't know,
07:46then we certainly can't do anything, right? So can you guys call if you don't hear about
07:53this? If you don't hear from the Trump administration that you're about to be rehired, we need to
07:58know about that if you're a federal probationary employee.
08:00Keith, can I speak to that? So this came up in Arizona as well, what happens when they
08:06violate a federal judge's order? And it happened in—A.G. James can speak to this, but we
08:14saw them violate the federal funding freeze order that A.G. James and the A.Gs won in
08:21New York in front of a New York federal judge. We brought a motion—Tish, was it a motion
08:29to compel? A motion to compel. And then we forced them to comply. So, Tish, do you want
08:38to add to that? We've been talking about our great work, but
08:45I guess everyone needs to know the cases that we've been involved in. And if it relates
08:50to your particular situation and you feel that you haven't received relief, then you
08:54should reach out to A.G. Ellison's office or any of our offices. The first case we won
08:59was birthright citizenship. We got a TRO. So let me—no, no, no, no. There's a lot,
09:05so don't—just hold your applause, okay? So birthright citizenship, it's important
09:11that individuals understand we won that case. Two, funding freezes that New York brought
09:16from the Office of Management and Budget. Basically, when they wanted to pause all of
09:21the funding to all of these agencies, we got a TRO. Then we discovered that, in fact,
09:26there were still funding freezes all over the nation, and we filed a motion to compel,
09:32and they lifted the pause. And that's why we need to get more information from you.
09:37DOJ. We went in to DOJ and his—to Elon Musk and his Musketeers, and we also—because
09:45they gained access to our sensitive information, and we were able to get a TRO as well as a
09:51PI. National Institute of Health that gives grants. Somebody said, woo, they got a grant.
09:59Obviously, National Institute of Health, which provides grants for individuals who are doing
10:04great work like finding a cure to cancer and Parkinson's and heart disease, all of that.
10:11A lot of these institutions and universities are economic engines for communities. I know
10:17in my respective—in the state of New York, federal workers, probationary workers, we
10:23got a TRO. We got a PI. And so if you were a probationary—a temporary restraining order
10:32and a preliminary injunction. In other words, you don't need to know the language. We won.
10:37That's it. Education. Also, we filed an action in anticipation of what happened today, and
10:46we will probably amend that case and get a preliminary injunction as well. Gender affirming
10:51care. Yeah, yeah, yeah, for the trans community. And let me just say, we don't need the government
10:58in our doctor's office, not only for gender affirming care, but also for reproductive
11:03care as well. Trans-military ban on labor. The reason why we've got the middle class
11:15is because of all that labor has done. The reason why we—yeah, the reason why we enjoy
11:20all of these laws, you know, working overtime, you know, the fact that we've got sick leave
11:26and the list goes on and on. And the reason why we've got a strong middle class is because
11:30of the labor movement. And as a proud unionist, it's important that we stand up for labor.
11:35Yes. So on March 5th, when we joined a multi-state regarding the National Labor Relations Board,
11:47and that judgment was granted as well. TPS for Venezuelans, for Haitians. We won that
11:53case as well. DEIA, diversity, equity, and inclusion. It's not just for people of color.
11:59It's for women. It's for the disabled community. And the list goes on. We've written letters
12:03and we are prepared to take action with respect to that case. The Alien Enemies Act, you all
12:10heard what is happening. Unfortunately, yes, to the gentleman who was deported and now
12:14was transferred to New Jersey. A number of us are taking action. I know here in my office,
12:19we are monitoring the situation and speaking to the attorneys as well. The bottom line
12:23is that all you should walk away from knowing is that, again, attorneys general, Democratic
12:29attorneys general, all 23 of us are working in tandem. We're walking in the same direction
12:34and that is protecting the rule of law and protecting the rights of all Americans. The
12:38bottom line is, if this applies to you, any of these cases, and you feel that you haven't
12:43received any relief, if you've suffered irreparable harm, reach out to Keith Ellison. If his numbers
12:48are jammed, call, the next date I guess is, call all of us.