Remember:

A friend of ours was recently fired as a museum technician as a result of the Trump Administration’s sweeping government layoffs targeting archivists and museum employees. They asked to remain anonymous, but they've given us permission to feature their message here…

I got fired today. Let me tell you why. Today, after 10 months of working for the federal government, 5 star performance reviews, employee of the month for February, representing the museum team on the communications committee, and more, I was fired because I had 80 days left before my probationary period ended.

For those of you who don’t know, the federal employee probationary period for civil servants is 1 year, with some being up to 2 years depending on other statuses. This makes it easier to let people go if they are not performing up to an appropriate standard or aren’t meeting the needs of their position. My performance was considered to the highest degree. I was fired because of Elon Musk, the Trump Administration, and billionaire greed. I was marked as essential by my supervisor when he was forced to send a list to OPM of probationary employees, but it didn’t matter. I was expendable according to the Trump Administration, even though I was making less than 50k a year with a masters degree.

Only 7 percent of federal workers are under the age of 30, and that number continues to dwindle as many of us continue to be fired day after day. The firing of probationary employees is NOT a Reduction in Force. They are illegal firings without just cause as agencies cite performance as the issue, and I’m very fortunate to be a part of a union that plans to represent us as we decide what’s next.

There were only 2 people in the museum department with a team that’s meant to be 6 people, now down to 1. With thousands of objects, the need to install temporary exhibits, quotas for digitization efforts, technical elements that needed to be fixed daily, and more, my daily responsibilities now fall onto one person along with their own.

The notion that federal employees don’t work in the office and are lazy is rude, demeaning, and disrespectful. Only 10% of federal workers were fully remote, despite what the administration is trying to push. I personally teleworked twice in my 10 months due to snow and ice. No one in my office of employees was fully remote. The numbers are a fabricated lie to demonize federal workers so the public won’t blink an eye as we continue to get fired and laid off.

For those of you are looking at this as a money saving expenditure, federal workers only account for 4% of the entire federal budget -- 271 billion dollars of 6.75 trillion dollar federal budget. You could fire every single federal worker and it would leave 96% of federal spending untouched. Our salaries are available online, a clear and transparent way to see how much we cost each year, unlike the work of DOGE who has had their records blocked for viewing until at least 2034.

To the people who are happy about this, how do you celebrate someone losing their income? Someone who has kids, has medical bills, lives alone. This will not only affect federal workers. This affects the communities they live: restaurants, hairdressers, small businesses as they lose clients and customers due to the inability to spend in their stores. This affects the companies that many agencies work with: the contractors, utility repair companies, visual designers, etc. How do you celebrate the ripple effects?

We, as federal employees, take an oath to serve the people and to protect the constitution of the United states from enemies foreign and domestic on day one, and while I’m no longer a federal employee, I still plan to continue doing that.

While I’m sad for myself, I’m more angry about what’s happening. The dismantling of our government by someone who doesn’t have the authority or clearance to do so. Taking away humanitarian aid from people who rely on it, taking over and having access to personal information in the treasury department, awarding contracts to insiders like Musk, and proposing we use savings to "invest" in cryptocurrencies that benefit administration insiders.

If you don’t see the issue with the blatant disregard for the constitution, please start reading, watching, and paying attention.

As someone who has two degrees in history, it is impossible not to see the historical parallels this has to other government overthrows of nations of the past. I pride myself on being on the right side of history, sticking up for the immigrants, the federal employees, the LGBTQ+ community, the lower class family, etc. For those who support what is happening, who voted for this, you have a chance to have a change of heart and stand up for what is right. From the wise words of one of my favorite musicals, History Has Its Eyes On You. And historians will remember the people and names of those who betrayed their neighbors, their friends, and their country.