By Daniel Newberry
On Thursday, Feb. 13th, I received an email from the Human Resources department at Bonneville Power Administration (U.S. Department of Energy) stating I was being fired because “your further employment would not be in the public interest.”
Wow! The government is obligated to state why they are firing someone, but this is overly vague. The three usual reasons someone can be fired from federal service are poor performance, malfeasance, or budget. None of these is the case. Is it legal for the U.S. government to fire someone without a specific, stated reason?
Many of my colleagues received a similar email, as we have all been working for the U.S. government for less than a year, making us probationary employees who have limited rights to appeal our termination.
This action, which has already affected well over 10,000 people, appears to me to be unconstitutional. Though I am not an attorney, Article 1 of our Constitution grants the power to Congress to pass laws and raise taxes and appropriate funds to carry out those laws. For the Administration to arbitrarily do mass firings stands in the way of implementing the laws of this country.
The constitutionality of many other recent executive orders, as well, are suspect.
We will all be feeling the impacts of this mass firing both in the pocketbook and in a reduction of services. The pain will be felt in red and blue districts alike and around the world, as we’re seeing with the USAID debacle.
The silence coming from the Supreme Court, our third branch of government, is deafening.
If everyone reading this post who believes what is happening is unconstitutional would send a message to the Supreme Court — directly or indirectly through others with great influence — it would let them know the people they are supposed to be serving are asking them for accountability.
The message should be simple: please affirm publicly, members of the Supreme Court, that the Constitution is the highest law of the land. That law is clear in its separation of powers and authorities. We are in a Constitutional crisis, with the Executive branch attempting to usurp the powers of the Legislative Branch. Please provide the checks and balances mandated by the Constitution.
This was originally posted by Daniel Newberry on Feb. 18, 2025. Daniel served as the Fish and Wildlife Administrator with Bonneville Power Administration.