Dear Harris,
Trump's purge of over 250,000 federal workers so far is not actually about government efficiency, saving money, or even political retribution. His deeper strategy is even more pernicious: it's to hollow out the bureaucracy so he can either leave it empty, or fill the void with puppet administrators to enable him to carry out his autocratic vision, no matter how extreme.
Trump's systematic dismissal of career scientists, public health leaders, environmental regulators, and civil servants had nothing to do with the quality of their work, or their intrinsic value to society. It was based simply on giving him the opportunity to make any decision he likes in an atmosphere of unquestioning approval, with no pushback from any "adults in the room."
These experts' only "offense" has been doing their jobs with professionalism, integrity, and independence in service to the public, not a political agenda.
Now, Rep. Don Beyer is fighting to undo the damage. His REHIRE Act would prioritize rehiring those wrongfully ousted under Trump, returning expertise and stability to our public institutions; and his PREP Act would build stronger job protections so that no future president can again weaponize mass firings to turn public servants into political pawns.
Send a direct message to Congress to reinstate the federal workers that Trump purged, and prevent future mass firings without cause. Pass the REHIRE and PREP Acts now.
The positions that have been lost are not partisan hires. They are scientists, analysts, public health officials, legal experts — positions that require objectivity, neutrality, good judgment, and expertise. These were the people who kept our government honest, safe, and effective — protecting us from consumer fraud, spoiled foods, untested medications, and pollution in the air and water, as well as predicting extreme weather events in the short and long term..
We must send a clear message: we will not stand by while our democracy is dismantled from within. A hollowed-out government, staffed by enablers instead of experts, becomes fertile ground — plowed and aerated — for authoritarianism.
Tell Congress: Pass the REHIRE and PREP Acts now. Restore the workforce. Protect the accumulation of knowledge. Defend the multiple perspectives required for democracy.
Let's bring back the experts Trump exiled — and protect the next generation from the same fate.
Robert Reich
Inequality Media Civic Action
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