Taking an axe to the federal government
I heard from a VA psychologist friend today...
A VA psychologist friend reached out today. Her job is at a VA in the heartland. Her job, in my view, is helping veterans with post traumatic stress stay alive. She is one of the hundreds of thousands of federal employees who has been encouraged to resign and be paid through September, or risk losing her job altogether. She has received four messages from the Trump administration in the last two weeks pushing her to consider leaving her job.
“I work at the VA because I love serving veterans. It's so discouraging to be given the impression that I'm dispensable and that the commander in chief cares so little about veterans and their health care that he's encouraging us all to leave. I worry that people will leave because federal employment all of a sudden feels precarious.”
Talked about this on The Lead today. Let me know your thoughts below:
— best,
Jake
I think what Trump and Musk are doing is completely wrong. They are causing chaos among civil servants and will assuredly cause pain among everyone else who count on some governmental service. What I find especially alarming are the actions of Elon Musk. No one elected him. He has not been vetted for any government role. He is acting on behalf of an "agency" that has no official status. I cannot see any justification for his involvement whatsoever. In any other country, media would be describing this situation as a coup.
The fact that elected officials are being prevented from entering government buildings (USAID) is terrifying. We have to be loud and we have to stand in the gap.