A disabled military veteran and information technology technician with the Federal Emergency Management Agency said he was blindsided this week when the Trump administration — whom he voted for — informed him of his termination.
The man, who is from northern Virginia, was fired Monday as part of cuts from Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency initiative, WTOP reported. The man, who was not named in the report fearing retaliation, said he was fired on performance grounds despite his military service, disability status and exceptional performance reviews.
“The Agency finds, based on your performance, that 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 man was told in an email. “Until the probationary period has been completed,” a probationer has “the burden to demonstrate why it is in the public interest for the Government to finalize an appointment to the civil service for this particular individual.”
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The man told WTOP his performance reviews were "all in the range of fours," meaning he was "exceeding expectations." Additionally, he was described by a supervisor as a "leader" who "demonstrated professionalism" in his core skills.
The man's family has contacted their Congressional lawmakers and their union.
"I voted for Donald Trump. But this is not what I was expecting,” he told the outlet. “We didn’t think they were going to take a chainsaw to a silk rug.”
While the man's wife said she recognizes the need for "a lot of cuts, she felt "this is not the one that you think will happen to your family."
DOGE has boasted of saving $55 billion since its inception — a number that has faced questions from analysts scrutinizing the group's receipts — through "fraud detection/deletion, contract/lease cancellations, contract/lease renegotiations, asset sales, grant cancellations, workforce reductions, programmatic changes, and regulatory savings."
DOGE lists cuts at the independent U.S. Agency for International Development as No. 1 in "total contract savings," followed by the Department of Education and the Office of Personnel Management.
