Are mass firings, layoffs and emails from President Donald Trump’s commission to reduce government spending, called the Department of Government Efficiency, the new normal for federal workers?
The president of the nation’s first union for civil service federal employees says no.
“This administration wants to antagonize federal employees into resigning,” said Randy Erwin, national president of the National Federation of Federal Employees. “Don’t let them intimidate you out of your job.”
Erwin spoke to WTOP on Saturday at a summit for federal workers in Greenbelt, Maryland.
“These are middle class workers, and you got an out-of-control, egotistical billionaire trying to get a tax cut and forcing, intimidating and bullying people out of their job that they need to feed their families,” Erwin said.
During a question and answer portion of the summit, Erwin told the packed Greenbelt Middle School auditorium that the union has filed around 40 lawsuits on behalf of its roughly 110,000 members.
“We are trying to protect federal employees,” Erwin said.
When it comes to the emails from DOGE, Erwin said he advises his members to consult their supervisors.
“They’re not allowed to go outside the chain of command the way they have,” Erwin said. “It’s bush league. It’s intimidating.”
Erwin pointed out that under 20% of federal workers live in the D.C. area, and they need to contact their representative on Capitol Hill and demand the president follow the Constitution.
“It starts with Congress. We need Congress to have a backbone to fulfill their constitutional duty to be a check on the executive’s power. They are absolutely not doing that either,” Erwin said.
Asked what advice he would give federal workers who are still on the job, Erwin said, “Be strong and don’t be intimidated.”
‘They’re going to collapse the economy acting like this’
Thousands of jobs for federal employees and contractors have been eliminated since Trump took office. The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, became Trump’s right-hand man and a special government employee overseeing DOGE.
Erwin believes if the cuts keep going, it will devolve the country into chaos.
“I think people don’t realize how important the functions of our government are,” he said. “We do serious work in the federal government.”
Erwin pointed to the Department of Homeland Security as an example.
“What if that had a quarter of its functionality? Guess what? We’re going to have terrorist attacks all over this country again,” Erwin said.
Other possible problems Erwin pointed to were not having wildland firefighters, such as those in California, and air traffic controllers, such as those in the nation’s capital.
He also warned of a possible recession, or worse.
“This administration does not understand the ramifications of their actions on the economy because of the work that the federal government does. It impacts so many different industries, so many communities. There is a domino effect that’s going to happen, and they’re going to collapse the economy acting like this,” Erwin said.
“The fact that they’re trying to make all of these draconian cuts concurrently with a $4.5 trillion tax cut that almost exclusively benefits the super wealthy is ludicrous,” Erwin added. “Could any organization be more efficient? The answer is yes, but that’s got to be a thoughtful process in government, or people are going to be hurt.”
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