Sarah Elfreth (00:00):
… three, congressional district three in Maryland. And I want to start by extending a special thank you to the brave and hard-working civil servants whom I am so proud to be standing with this morning and proud to represent every single day. I'm grateful for their stories. I'm grateful for their fight, and I'm grateful for their advocacy that they're going to share here today. And I want you to hear from them directly to hear their stories. So I'm going to endeavor to be as brief as possible. I have the privilege of representing 44,000 federal employees in my district, and I'm joined by colleagues Congressman Steny Hoyer, Congressman Johnny Olszewski, who also represent tens of thousands of federal employees. These civil servants wake up every single day and work every day to keep our food inspected, to keep our water clean, to keep our social security checks coming on time.
(00:49)
But since day one, unfortunately, this administration has sought to recklessly remove civil servants from their jobs and thus putting life-saving services in the hands of political appointments, or even worse, those services in the hands of no one at all. The firing, particularly of probationary employees, especially impacts workers of my generation, people who are early or mid-career. The folks I'm standing with today, like Daniel, Ashley and Maddie, they were on a path to be the next generation of leaders in our civil service. They were hard-working public servants with excellent performance reviews who were fired because of no fault of their own, but only because as probationary employees, one with only one day left in his probationary status, they had fewer protections than other federal workers. And let me be clear, they were not given two weeks notice. They were not given a severance. They were cut off from their emails and from their careers and from their livelihoods when they have children in school and mortgages to pay and parents to take care of.
(01:51)
So we need to take steps as a Congress to protect them and the thousands employees like them from the reckless chaos of this moment because the future of the civil service is truly in jeopardy. I ask you, who will want to serve their country if they are demonized every day? Who will want to serve their country if they can be arbitrarily fired without cause? Who will want to serve their country if their job is in question every four years. At a time when government already faces challenges recruiting young talent, recruiting the best in the brightest in cyber security and science and public health, and when public service salaries consistently fall behind the private sector, arbitrarily firing thousands of federal workers is nothing short of disastrous. And our generations could be living with the consequences of these actions for decades to come. Let me be clear that you're going to hear today how demoralizing, illegal, and unimaginable these firings have been for hardworking civil servants.
(02:49)
And we must fight with every tool we have to reinstate these workers and we are fighting and we are winning. Just last week, the Department of Labor rehired workers, USDA rehired workers, FDA rehired workers. Doge and Elon Musk have already admitted that in moving so quickly, mistakes were made and workers are being reinstated. The reason we are here today and the very simple idea behind this bipartisan bill is that these workers should not have to restart the clock on their probationary periods for the work and jobs they've already held because of this carelessness. And that's why today we are introducing the Protect Our Probationary Employees Act to do just that. We have 41 bipartisan co-sponsors in the house. The bill was also introduced by Senator Chris Van Hollen who will be joined by in a second in the Senate. This is again a bipartisan, common sense piece of legislation because protecting our federal employees who serve our communities and this nation should not be partisan.
(03:46)
This is not, I want to make clear not just a challenge for the members of the House and Senate who represent the DMV region. It's often told as that story, but let me be clear that 85% of civil servants in this country serve our country in communities outside of the DMV. They live in red states, they live in blue states, and above all, they deliver critical government services to all Americans regardless of the party and power or who they voted for. I'm committed to fighting for them and the future of our civil service every single day. And I want every civil servant to know that we see you, we hear you, and we are with you every step of the way forward. Thank you. And with that, I'm going to bring up one of those people impacted today, Daniel. Daniel?
Daniel (04:34):
First, I want to thank Congresswoman Elfreth for her work on this important bill and for having me today. It's an honor. My name's Dan, and until recently, I was a historic preservation specialist with the General Services Administration. Over the last year in this role, I've gotten to be a steward of monumental historic buildings, just a stone's throw away from the National Mall. The responsibility has been humbling and rewarding. Every day I seriously felt like I'd been called up to the big leagues.
(05:06)
You see, for many years I've been fascinated by the GSA's stewardship role of our historic public buildings after learning about the agency in graduate school, 10 years and many job applications later, I was finally hired on last February and was ecstatic to begin what I considered the capstone of my early career. I thought I would spend many years here.
(05:29)
My wife Jen and I sacrificed much to make this dream a reality, including an amazing community where we lived in California and stable and expanding careers in state and local government, ones where we were truly valued. We also moved our whole lives, 2,700 miles while Jen was pregnant, spending several thousand dollars out of our own pockets. Up until recently, it was all well worth it. I did meaningful work with incredible colleagues. I was learning a lot. Jen and I settled into our lives here and quickly took to loving everything that DC has to offer. Our first child, baby Sal, was born in September and we also became first-time homeowners in the region in December.
(06:13)
Today, I'm scared. I'm scared for what the next few months look like. I'm scared for those that depend on me and my salary. I'm scared to lose the home we haven't even finished unpacking yet. I'm also sad for us all, though because my work matters and these people's work matters. Without folks like me, there'd be no one to ensure our nation's most important historic buildings and sites are protected from ill-conceived government actions that carelessly degrade and inevitably erase them. I'm scared and I'm dejected, but I promise you this, I'm also strong and defiant. Today I know we're so much stronger together. Thank you so much.
(06:56)
Sorry. And next is Ashley and Maddie.
Ashley Ranalli (07:02):
Hey everybody. How are you guys today? You guys doing good? May I ask that for you to hold that for me? Normally I am, if you can tell as I'm an interpreter. And so I like to talk to people and so it feels weird for me just to sort of statically stand here. I want to talk to y'all. So my name's Ashley Ranalli, and this is my colleague Maddie Hollis. Both Maddie and I were among the 1,000 National Park Service probationary employees fired unjustly on February 14th. Formerly, I was a school teacher, a park ranger. I was a school teacher for 15 years, a park ranger, two jobs for five of those years. I'm a daughter, I'm a sister, and I'm also a cancer survivor. And now I don't have health insurance.
(07:50)
Maddie and I were not lazy bureaucrats who loafed around all day. We loved our jobs and we took pride in our work. We loved being park rangers. Maddie is really special to me as she and I were both National Park interns in 2020. We both fought for five years, five years to chase our dreams and land permanent jobs, only to have our careers taken simply for being on probation. We are able to speak to you today solely because of the support of our friends and family. My partner Ryan Braun is sitting back there. Beck Hollis, Maddie's partner is back there with us. Our partners have done so much to support our efforts in advocacy. Our friends, our fired colleagues, Helen Dew, Avery Lentz, and our families have carried us on their backs financially and emotionally while we desperately searched for someone to help us. With that support from our families, we were able to continue this fight and find allies like Senator Warner and finally, Congresswoman Elfreth. On that note, ladies and gentlemen, my colleague and friend and dedicated former public servant, Maddie Hollis.
Maddie Hollis (09:10):
Good morning, everyone. Thank you so much for having us. I am one of many of the federal employees who were terminated simply because we were still within our first year of our permanent positions. But as Ashley stated, we were not new to the National Park Service. I worked as a paid National Park Service employee for three years, not counting my volunteer work, my internships to qualify for my permanent position. And I was terminated on Valentine's Day.
(09:37)
And so I'm here today mostly to talk about the now what. We were fired very suddenly. There's talk of potentially reinstating probationary employees who were fired outside of normal reduction in force procedures. But now what? That's the thing to talk about today, is what kind of safeguards are needed going forward for probationary employees, and what can we do to eliminate the barriers to our careers? Because truly, this would not just have short-term consequences, the obvious being loss of income, loss of health insurance, but also long-term consequences on our career. For example, if we are not reinstated and we cannot find government jobs for the next two years, in many instances that would count as a break in service, and we would have to start from scratch in terms of the time that we both put in to qualify for our positions.
(10:26)
And so there's many things to discuss today to talk about what can be done going forward. And so we're not just here to share our stories and talk about what happened to us, but also to talk about solutions and talk about those safeguards that we need to protect people like Ashley and myself.
(10:44)
As a former park ranger and a huge history buff, I feel that it would not be fair to close without sharing at least one quote from a historical figure. It's what I love. It's in my nature. So this comes from George Washington writing to the Marquis de
Maddie Hollis (11:00):
… Lafayette in 1785 and he said, "Democratical states must always feel before they can see. It is this that makes their government slow, but the people will be right at last." And so what is George Washington telling us here? He's telling us that democracy while frustrating at times, is supposed to be slow because that allows decisions to be fully discussed and thought out before they happen. And I fear that the way that we were terminated so suddenly meant that not all of the consequences could be thought out and a plan made for people like us going forward. And so that's why we're here today. We hope that this conversation that we have with representatives later about these solutions can protect people going forward. If not for everyone standing behind me today, maybe for someone in the future. So thank you so much and thank you, Congressman Eldrich. And then next up is Senator Chris Van Hollen.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
He's running late, so we're going to have Congressman white.
Maddie Hollis (11:58):
All right.
Congressman White (12:04):
Ashley and Maddie, thank you very, very much. They are two perfect examples of extraordinary employees of the American people. No malinger is there. Now, I want to put this in context. If I wanted to make the federal government the least efficient I could possibly make it, I would do exactly what Musk has done. Exactly. I would make sure that every employee focused on the fact that they might lose their job as opposed to focusing on their job, fearful of the next day. Now, I don't just suppose that. I know that. Let me quote Russell Vaught, who really designed much of what is going on and being implemented by Elon Musk and his cohorts. Here's what Vaught said. We want bureaucrats to be traumatically affected. When they wake up in the morning, we want them not to want to go to work because they are increasingly viewed as the villains. We want to put them in trauma.
(13:37)
Is there an American who thinks that that's what they want to do with their employees, with the people who serve them every day? Put them in trauma, have them believe that they're being looked at as villains. Not one of these people here is a villain. Every one of these people here, including the members of Congress, are serving the American people. So I want to congratulate my colleague, Sarah Eldrich, for introducing this bill, this bipartisan bill.
(14:15)
I want to thank every one of the folks who are here. Ashley, Daniel, Maddie, Nicole, Anthony, Jay, Madeline for being here. If I left somebody out, I apologize. The past few weeks we have watched Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Russell Vaught, and Doggie, I know some people call it DOGE. That's too fancy a name for what's going on, try to make the federal government the least efficient it could be so that they can claim, oh, the government doesn't work because that's what they're causing.
(14:59)
Their actions are unprecedented, illegal, and cruel. Our federal workers, especially our probationary employees, have borne the brunt of this assault. Ladies and gentlemen, other than the like me, mid-career people, the members of Congress, I'm a lot older than any of them. You're seeing the seed corn. What is seed corn? Seed corn, is that what you plant, which will make sure you have more growth, more sustenance, more support?
(15:37)
I want to talk about Julie, a Marylander, a probationary employee at the Treasury Department. She supports the Office of Comptroller of the Currencies, work to protect consumers from discriminatory lending, fraud, money laundering, and other predatory financial practices. Now, there's somebody who's senior to her who's doing that right now. And they were trained and they had an opportunity to work. And one of these folks maybe will succeed her or somebody else, but if we fire them, if we put them out of training, particularly when as you saw, they are outstanding performers, then we will have nobody to replace them. Julie left her long time home in Atlanta as well as her family and her friends to take the job at Treasury. Why? Because she believes in the work and because she knows she is the most qualified person for that job, and that's why they hired her. Her stellar performance evaluations, outstanding, outstanding, outstanding, affirmed that. Her probationary period was set to end March 24th. She was terminated on March 8th. Cruel, inhuman, immoral, but mostly illegal. The saddest part of Julie's story is that it's not unique. Trump, Musk, and Vaught do not care who or what they do. They did this so quickly that they knew everything about how they would do it with their emails and their social media. What they didn't have any idea was the consequences of their actions, which we have seen have put people's lives at risk. Put basic biomedical research at risk, put nursing skills at risk, put veterans at risk, put families at risk, put jurisdictions at risk.
(17:46)
But we know that the real villains are not those who are being fired, not those who serve others, but those who serve only themselves. That's why I am so proud to support and fight for the bill that Sara Eldrich has put on as a bipartisan bill. And I would reiterate 15% of federal employees live in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia area. 85% live every place else. I want to now introduce Nicole, who was laid off or fired from the Consumer Financial Protection Board, a board that is designed to make sure that Americans are not built and defrauded by those who would use their lack of knowledge as a vulnerability and take advantage of them. Nicole, thank you.
Nicole Cabanez (18:54):
Thank you. Hello everybody. My name is Nicole Cabanez. I was fired on February 11th, 2025 from my dream job as an honors attorney in the enforcement division at the CFPB. In my job, I investigated financial institutions for violating consumer financial laws, with the sole goal of pursuing consumer redress, getting people's money back when they've been taken advantage of, when they've been defrauded, and when they've been misled by our marketplace.
(19:26)
Both of my parents are Republicans. I'm from Miami, Florida, and I believe in the market economy. And I learned in law school that sometimes the way that our market economy works doesn't give consumers the power to vote with their money. I believe that that was a big part of why some areas of our marketplace took advantage of other people, because they weren't responsible or accountable to the American public. And so I pursued my job with the goal of trying to make a difference, trying to rectify those incentives. I was fired from my probationary period, which simply meant that I was new to my job. In fact, I started on October 7th, 2024. I started a month before the election, green and eager to do my job. I worked long hours. I worked through the Christmas holiday. It was an honor of a lifetime to do this job. In fact, from the time I was in law school, I knew that I wanted this job.
(20:21)
I was green, but I wasn't naive. I knew that I was joining a month before the election, and I knew that a big part of being a civil servant was to serve regardless of who was in charge and to show whoever was in charge that I was willing to work in good faith, to try to find common ground and to try to reach outcomes that worked for everybody.
(20:43)
I wanted the market economy to work, and that was my motivation. When I saw and realized that the Trump administration was going to come in, I knew that that outcome would mean that I'd probably have to work even harder. I would have to show them that my cases were worth bringing. I would have to show them that I did my homework and that I was willing to work hard and I was willing to work long hours for the American public.
(21:07)
I was never really given that chance though. I was fired at 9:00 PM on a Tuesday over email with no notice or warning or severance or any opportunity to show that I was willing to work with whoever was in charge to make a difference. The American public deserve a whole lot better. They deserve to have green, eager, efficient, smart people working in their government. And I deserved a whole lot better too. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
And now we're going to have the Senate sponsor of the bill, Senator Chris Van Hollen from Maryland.
Senator Chris Van Hollen (21:44):
I want to start as my colleagues have by thanking these patriotic, hardworking federal employees for all the good work you were doing on behalf of our country until you were illegally
Senator Chris Van Hollen (22:00):
… legally fired. And all of us are here to say, we are going to help you get your jobs back, and when you do, you will be able to get credit for the good work and time you've already served on behalf of the American people. And I want to thank Congresswoman Sarah Elfreth, she's hit the ground running here in the House of Representatives. She and Congressman Hoyer and of course Johnny Olszewski are really great parts of Team Maryland. Glad to be joined by other members of Congress from around the country, including making this a bipartisan bill. So thank you to Congresswoman Elfreth for all of her good work here.
(22:41)
This is a common-sense piece of legislation. Elon Musk has been illegally firing federal employees, and when we get them restored to their jobs, Elon Musk doesn't get to reset the clock and erase the good work that they've already done on behalf of the American people and the time that they put into that effort. So this is a very important step as part of our overall effort to end these illegal firings, and as I think we all know, the courts are very busy now, administrative agencies are very busy now, and the courts that have reviewed these cases have found that these probationary employees have been wrongfully terminated.
(23:30)
This is not about making the government more efficient. All of us are in support of making the government more efficient. This is about making the government work for people like Elon Musk and rigging the government for powerful interests at the expense of everybody else in America. And Nicole's story at the CFPB is instructive, because at the CFPB, in addition to those who were probationary employees who were terminated, you also had everybody else at the CFPB who were not probationary employees sent home on administrative leave.
(24:05)
So these are people who, like Nicole, were working to recover monies on behalf of Americans, including many Marylanders who'd been cheated and defrauded by certain entities, and their job was to get those funds back. And in fact, over the years, over $1 billion in monies that were lost to the American people through fraud and cheating were given back to the American people because of the good work of CFPB, and that's just one example. So why would you want to shut down the CFPB? It's because in helping American consumers, they also had some very powerful enemies. So this has nothing to do with government efficiency.
(24:51)
The final thing I want to point out, and I think you all know this, is the firing of probationary employees was based on a big lie, a very big lie and a hurtful lie, because as you all know, I think the country recognizes when you're a probationary employee, that has nothing to do with your performance. It's not because you've done anything wrong, it's because you've been newly hired to the federal government, or in many cases, you can have worked for the federal government for a very, very long time, but be new to your position. In other words, you could be promoted based on merit to a new position in the federal government, you're probationary in that position for a certain period of time.
(25:34)
But the Musk folks recognize that federal employees do have due process rights and you cannot be terminated except for misconduct or poor performance, and so they made up the big lie. A lot of these federal employees got these letters saying that they were being fired for poor performance, only to discover all these federal employees coming forward with glowing recent performance reports because of the good work they were doing on behalf of the American people.
(26:04)
So I think the country's waking up to the fact that Elon Musk is lying to them about what he's doing. People are waking up to the fact this is not about government efficiency, this is indeed about rigging the government for people like Elon Musk. And it is time for all of us to make sure that we back these patriotic federal employees who wrongfully lost their jobs, that's what this bill is about. It's making sure that when we accomplish that goal, we provide that fairness to say, you've already done this work on behalf of the American people, and you get full credit for that good work that you've already done. So let me again thank Sarah Elfreth, my colleagues, I'm introducing this on the Senate side today with Senator Mark Warner, and to all our federal employees again, thank you for all that you do. Thank you, Sarah.
Sarah Elfreth (26:57):
Next, we're going to hear from Anthony, and then I'm going to call up my colleague, Congresswoman Dina Titus.
Anthony (27:06):
Hello everyone. My name is Anthony Johnson II, a former physical science technician with the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office in Annapolis, Maryland. I was raised in Maryland, where my dreams of becoming a marine biologist at a young age began. The Chesapeake Bay watershed was a foundational resource that made me love nature. It raised my curiosity not only to pursue this field as a career, but to protect it. I became a federal employee last fall on August 26 after completing a year-long internship with the NOAA office as a Chesapeake Conservation and Climate Corps member. The office was a special landing spot for me, starting a full-time position after receiving my master's from the University of Miami. The NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office was a place I saw myself working at for years. NOAA is known for its efforts in restoring and conserving the Chesapeake Bay resources to a healthy state for future generations. My job at NOAA was to maintain the scientific buoys located across the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The buoys provided continuous real-time water quality data, not only for helping other organizations with their desired projects, but was useful to boaters in safely navigating the changing water conditions. For example, our data from our buoys was used in rescue and recovery efforts for the Francis Scott Key Bridge disaster.
(28:29)
On February 27th, I received the email stating I was terminated from NOAA. The email read I was not fit for the job because of my ability, knowledge and/or skills do not fit the agency's current needs. I successfully completed eight internships over the years, with each opportunity teaching me the crucial reasons why marine ecosystems are important. The lack of knowledge or skills that I was claimed to not have was false and offensive. My termination and others' from our positions in NOAA may result in drastic consequences to our ecosystem and livelihood. The shortage of federal workers to manage our sustainable fisheries, climate resiliency and environmental literacy may impact our environment and economy. Only time will tell of the true consequences terminating federal workers has on a broader scale. I would like to bring up Congresswoman Dina Titus.
Congresswoman Dina Titus (29:32):
Well, thank you very much for being here, and thank you to our Congresswoman Elfreth for taking the leadership on this important issue, Leader Hoyer, Senator, and the other people who are sponsoring this bill. I want to especially thank these brave public employees though, because they can tell this story much more eloquently than I can. They are living it every day, they are on the front lines, and they are the ones who are suffering directly the consequences of this rash action.
(30:02)
Now, you've seen a lot of representatives here from Maryland because so many public employees live in the Washington area, but I'm here to tell you, they live all across the country in every district. I represent Nevada's 1st District, Southern Nevada, and we have seen the firing of these probational employees. At Lake Mead, for example, some of our park rangers have been let go. Now, Lake Mead is a source of great recreational tourism. A lot of revenue comes from Lake Mead, a lot of just personal fun from people who live in Southern Nevada going to Lake Mead. Without those park rangers, it will not be maintained, it will not be as safe, it will not be cleaned, it just will not be the same.
(30:49)
Another aspect of this firing that directly impacts my district is Social Security. They've closed the Social Security office and fired some of the temporary employees there. We have a very large senior population in Southern Nevada, lots of retirees who need those services, who now will not find them. So it's not only illegal, it's shameful, and it's not just a disservice to the people in these jobs, but to all Americans who rely on them to provide services that they need. So thank you for being here, and I'm pleased to co-sponsor this bipartisan bill. It's an important first step to show our support for these folks and to be sure that perhaps if we can turn this around, which we will by working together, then we can make a difference. Thank you.
Sarah Elfreth (31:42):
Okay. We're going to hear from one more impacted employee, and then I'm going to ask my colleague, Congressman Olszewski, to help us close. Madeline is next.
Madeline (31:56):
Thank you, not only for this bill, but for giving us the opportunity to tell our stories. On February 14th, I was unjustly terminated from my dream job as a visual information specialist with the National Park Service [inaudible 00:32:09] the 1,000 other rangers that were terminated across the service, but five other rangers just in the Baltimore area parks that I worked with had our positions ripped away from us without just cause. The email we received claimed that we had failed to demonstrate fitness or qualifications for continued employment, but the decision-makers who were not our supervisors or people that even worked with us knew nothing of the education, experience, training, skills and talents that I and my colleagues dedicated years cultivating in order to qualify for one of these positions.
(32:41)
I received an outstanding rating in what would be my only performance evaluation with the National Park Service, but this was on par with every prior evaluation I received during my tenure as a civilian employee with the Department of the Navy. Although I was only 10 months into my year-long probationary period with the Park Service, I have over
Madeline (33:00):
… for six years of experience as a federal civil servant. Unfortunately, my performance rating and my previous service did not seem to matter. I went through the stages of grief as I realized my entire professional trajectory had been altered in the time it took to read an email. My very first thought was not for my paycheck, but for the devastation I felt over losing a job that meant so much to me. My passion for the National Park Service and its mission remain unwavering, and I'm heartbroken to know that the work that I dedicated to and for my parks has come to an abrupt end. I grieve this loss and continue to do so, but when the reality of my situation set back in and the practical issues began to surface, I panicked at the thought of losing my livelihood. While I may not be a mother or a veteran, although I have met parents and vets impacted by this action, I face my own challenges.
(33:50)
When I learned that I had 30 days until my health insurance will be cut off, I was crushed to realize that a surgery that would greatly improve the quality of my life fell outside that window. I called my doctor and I'm grateful to say that I stand here exactly one week post-op telling you my story. Excuse me. I wish I could have focused on my recovery without the constant worry of my recent unemployment lingering in the back of my mind. As I worked on standing without pain and managing daily tasks independently, the same questions were played in my mind. "What will I do for work now? When will I be healthy enough to search for a job? Will there even be a position available for me in this newly over- saturated job market?" And mostly, "How does one cope with losing their dream job so suddenly and move forward?"
(34:37)
But these considerations aren't made or one that I even have the possibility to think about when you're told that your termination is effective immediately. There are those that hesitate to label mine and other terminations as illegal because they're not experts in the law. So I propose alternatives, unfair, cruel, and inhumane in the truest sense as we were not treated as individuals with lives. We were reduced to names on a list and numbers on a spreadsheet. But I'm here to remind everyone that I'm a real person. We are real people and who I am and the work that I did was not a waste. Thank you. I'll hand it off to Congressman Olszewski.
Congressman Olszewski (35:22):
I first just want to thank Madeline for her courage and the courage of so many others for stepping forward and sharing their stories. Unfortunately, there are thousands and thousands of them happening across this country today. So I am honored to stand alongside Madeline and the employees here today just as we stand alongside the employees across this country who have been impacted by these heartless, thoughtless, and dangerous actions by President Trump, Elon Musk, and DOGE. I do want to thank my colleague and friend, Congresswoman Alfred, for leading on this effort alongside Senator Van Hollen. Pleased to stand with the two of them as well as Representatives Hoyer and Titus and others. I thank those who are joining this in a bipartisan manner because what's happening is wrong, and it's wrong not just for the impact that it's having on people who are doing not just a job.
(36:24)
As you've heard, they're living out a calling. This is a calling. This is serving their fellow American in a way that is deeply personal and that is deeply impactful. And so not only is there incredible devastation in the short term in terms of these individuals and their families, but there's a real danger to what's happening across this country at a time when we are seeing planes fall out of the sky, we see our flight attendants and we see our air traffic controllers under attack, at a time when we see the rise of bird flu. We are taking away safety inspectors. At a time when our history is under attack. We see employees losing opportunities to interpret that for future generations. And so this is an important first step that when these illegal and immoral firings are overturned, that these individuals don't lose their time.
(37:22)
But it's not the only step. We have a lot more to do. And part of it is lifting up the voices that you've heard today. I was proud on the joint address to bring another probationary employee, Katie Stahl, to be one of those voices. She was also let go for doing nothing wrong. In fact, Katie who worked with US Fish and Wildlife, who worked with Maryland farmers was let go as a probationary employee who was just promoted for doing such an outstanding job. She was hired under President Trump's first administration and subsequently let go in this thoughtless, heartless action against all probationary employees. And so we look forward to passing this legislation. We look forward to doing all that we can to get these and other probationary employees reinstated so that they can pursue their calling, so that they can be partially restored to what's been taken from them and that our country can be partially restored as we move forward together. I'll turn things back over to Congresswoman Alfred.
Sarah Elfreth (38:23):
Thank you. I will close again with just a sincere gratitude for all those who stand behind me and more importantly, all of their colleagues across the federal government that they represent. Thank you for sharing your stories. Thank you for humanizing this moment. I think in politics we tend to talk, as was just said, about numbers on a spreadsheet. And we don't talk about the human cost to the individual employees. We don't talk about the human costs, as Congressman Olszewski, just said to the American people when these services are cut with such a short-sighted nature. And again, I want to thank my colleagues… I want to thank my bipartisan colleagues because even if you might agree with some things that DOGE has done… And I'll actually share something. My parents are also Republicans, but they're also civil servants. So even if you agree with some of these things, it has been admitted that mistakes were made in moving too quickly.
(39:17)
We've seen that with civil servants who are protecting our nuclear arsenal. We've seen that with civil servants who are protecting us against avian flu. We've seen that across the board. So even when mistakes are made, when those civil servants are reinstated, if they even choose to come back into public service, we owe them the respect and dignity of honoring their service to date. And that's what this bill is all about. That's what I'm grateful, to serving Congress every day and fight for these employees every single day. And I just want to thank everybody who was here and I am happy to take questions.
Speaker 2 (39:51):
Hey, can you talk about what the bill does, if it's different than some other bills that have introduced on this topic so far and what your hopes are?
Sarah Elfreth (39:58):
Sure. It's a really simple bill. It just says that if a probationary employee has been fired during this term and they are reinstated, for whatever reason… The bill is silent on how they would be reinstated if it's, again, the courts, if a mistake were made, that we simply honor the time that they have served. And so like Daniel, who was one day away from ending his probationary status, if he chooses to come back and is reinstated, he doesn't have to start the clock again at day zero or day one in public service so that we are honoring their service to date. Very simple bill. Probably one of the shortest bills introduced in Congress. Simple common sense bipartisan idea. Okay. Thank you all very much for being here.