Over 300 individuals attended a town hall in Portland on Monday, where federal employees, including veterans’ health care workers, climate and agricultural scientists, and government technology specialists, voiced their frustrations about job losses under President Donald Trump.
Current and former federal employees expressed their anger and anxiety about their futures and the state of the nation, citing the downsizing of federal agencies and a president advised by influential private-sector figures, including billionaires like Elon Musk. Many attendees felt betrayed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, who voted on Friday against the majority sentiment of House and Senate Democrats to support a Republican spending bill aimed at funding the government for the next six months.
One speaker, who was among the tens of thousands of probationary employees dismissed in February, shared their disappointment. They were one of approximately a dozen current and former federal employees who addressed Oregon’s congressional Democrats at the town hall organized by U.S. Senator Ron Wyden in a federal services office building.
In February, prompted by Musk, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management sent an email to federal employees requiring them to submit a list of five accomplishments from the previous week or face termination. This demand was met with heavy criticism from public employee unions and was eventually retracted.
Oregon’s U.S. House representatives expressed their pride in standing alongside all other House Democrats in opposing the Republican spending bill last week, which now grants Trump and his party substantial control over Congressional spending for the next six months.
Neither Senator Wyden nor Senator Merkley indicated whether they would support Schumer as minority leader in the future, noting that their ability to influence his decisions is limited until the next election in two years. Despite some recent successes, including two victories by state attorneys general aimed at reinstating terminated employees, many attendees at the town hall expressed feelings of uncertainty and a lack of communication with their superiors.
