By Michelle Kirchner
Along with tens of thousands of other federal employees, I was unjustly and illegally fired from my job on Friday.
In the photo above, I’m performing a public service. A public service that the National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA) deemed important enough to grant our unit enough money to specifically hire someone to do. The work I’m doing here directly impacts the livelihoods of growers, the production of alfalfa seed and hay, the dairy and livestock industries, and $11 billion of U.S. agricultural production. Do you drink milk, eat cheese, or use butter? My work helps you. Does your horse eat alfalfa? My work helps you. Do you care about “saving the bees?” My work helps you. Do you care about what pesticides are used and how safe they are? My work helps you.
Nevertheless, last night I received an email stating: “Based on your performance, you have not demonstrated that your further employment at the Agency would be in the public interest. For this reason, the Agency informs you that the Agency is removing you from your position.”
The agency in question is the United States Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service, for whom I have worked for the last 10 months. During that time, I have received glowing performance reviews from my supervisors, including a performance award. I have submitted three scientific manuscripts to peer-reviewed journals. I have been awarded $25,000 from stakeholders to continue this research. I spent two months in rural eastern Washington, sweating in over 100 degree heat every day to collect essential data. This termination is not based on my performance.
My direct supervisors had no say in this termination. My direct supervisors’ boss’ boss’ boss had no say in this termination. They also will not have the opportunity to file, fill out, or sign any of my termination paperwork, as is typical in this process. Instead, all of that will be handled by H.R. headquarters in Washington, D.C.. In other words, the paperwork that officially states that I am being fired for poor performance will be filled out and signed off by people who have had no possible way to assess my performance.
My job, as with most jobs, came with a probationary period, during which my performance would be assessed to determine my “fitness or qualifications for continued employment.” In my position this was one year. In other federal positions this can be up to three years. While this is a probationary period, employees can still only be terminated under specific circumstances related to their fitness for the position.
The President, DOGE, and Elon Musk are saying these cuts are to increase efficiency and the federal budget. These are blatant lies.
If this was about efficiency, they would have taken the time to actually assess people’s performances. Instead, they are unanimously slashing the (typically) most motivated part of the workforce giving little to no notice to employees, supervisors, or even higher-ups. This is causing chaos, panic, and an extreme decrease in efficiency. This is part of their plan. They cause the inefficiency and then point to the agencies and say “Look at how inefficient they are!” For example, because I have been fired and we’re on a hiring freeze, there will be no one to perform the mission-critical work I was doing. The money that NIFA granted our unit over a year ago to do this job will sit in an account and gather dust, because it is legally not allowed to be used for anything else. Yes, I agree this is inefficient. But this is inefficient, because of the way the executive branch and Musk are deliberately operating.
Which brings me to my second point. If this was about the money, I would still have a job. I was paid by a grant that was already paid out to our unit over a year ago. This is not money appropriated by Congress. This is a very specific amount of money set aside for a very specific purpose on a very specific three-year timeline. As I said above, it cannot be used for anything else. In addition, the majority of the terminated workforce are those on the lower end of the pay scale — mainly folks that make less than $100,000 per year, and many less than half that. If this was truly about money, is targeting the lower end of the four percent of the entire budget allotted to federal salaries really the way to save “trillions?”
When Trump, Musk, and their friends are talking about “trimming the fat,” “dumping the waste,” or “lazy federal employees,” they’re talking about me and people just like me.
When the richest man in the world is responsible for tens of thousands of hardworking Americans performing a public service for you and your country losing their livelihoods with less than 24 hours notice, it’s time to question whether he truly has your best interest in mind.
If you voted for Trump and this upsets you, call your state and local representatives and TELL THEM. Please, it’s the only way we can get this to stop.
If you voted for Trump and this doesn’t upset you, maybe reflect some more on what they’re doing to our country.
If you have questions or would like further information or clarification, feel free to ask in a respectful manner.
Thank you for reading this. Thank you for caring. Please help us stop this.
This was originally posted by Michelle Kirchner on Feb. 15, 2025. Michelle added, “If you know any employment lawyers, please let me know. I’m ready to fight this.”