Tell Kansas and Missouri officials the government belongs to us, not Trump and Musk | Opinion
I spent over a decade as a career staffer in the federal government. I worked at three separate agencies under Democratic and Republican presidential administrations.
Over the past two weeks, tens of thousands of federal employees have been put on administrative leave, asked to voluntarily resign and put at risk of being fired. Federal money for research, food assistance and Medicaid have been disrupted. Computer systems have been curiously taken over by Elon Musk’s crew at the nongovernmental, unelected Department of Government Efficiency, the legality of which is still in question. The speed and shock-and-awe of it all is chaotically unprecedented. If you think what is happening right now is OK or needed, I implore you to read on.
I was raised in the Midwest. My family history begins as a story of immigrant farmhands, turned farmers, turned city folk. Fairness, honesty and justice run through my veins from the top of my head to the tip of my toes, and drive my commitment to ethical planning.
When my mother was 15 years old, my grandfather drove her to the local telephone company, lightly shoved her out the passenger-side car door and told her to go in and get a job application. That job allowed her the power to buy a brand new 1967 Mercury Cougar while still in high school. He was teaching her the importance and value of hard work. He understood that we need to pull ourselves up from our bootstraps (when we can, when structural barriers do not get in our way). My mom went on to work for United States Department of Agriculture for the entirety of her career.
The world I grew up in was filled with hope, consistency, love and support for me to spread my wings, go on to study things that curiously caught my attention, and then give back to my community. Those values were instilled in me, and they reside in federal employees today. Federal employees are like you and me. They are your neighbors. They care more about the public good than getting ahead themselves. They are dedicated to service of the law and the mission of their organizations.
I worked in the Census Bureau during Donald Trump’s first administration. The time spent interacting with political staff determined to politicize neutral statistical people-counting was exhausting. I worked evenings and weekends, continuously, trying to calm chaos and use data to help these same political actors make better informed decisions.
My grandfather would not approve of the shenanigans being led by the current administration’s leadership. If you believe government is not efficient or does not serve you, chaos, smoke and mirrors, bullying and lying are not solutions to this problem. They stir up grave inefficiencies.
Instead of focusing on redistributing funding to thousands or organizations across the country, career staffers are focused 24/7 on how they manage the levels of stress, uncertainty and unethical behavior they are observing, and with which they are being forced to interact. Many of them are being put on administrative leave so instead of doing their job for you, they are sitting at home and getting paid. Fire all these employees, and unemployment rates will increase, price instability will grow and inflation will accelerate.
Sitting back in silence while the current administration devours systems set in place to protect the public is risky. Even if you believe these systems do not help you, management by blind privilege, chaos and bullying is not the answer.
No matter your political affiliation, I implore you to speak out. Contact your government representatives. Ask them to stop the chaos and bullying. It is the only way we, as a nation, can continue to be the best in the world. You have the power. Be the change and act now.