“We are not the enemy. We’re Americans. We’re veterans. We deserve respect for what we do,” she said.
DALLAS — As thousands of federal workers at USAID were given 15 minutes to clean out their desks and vacate their Washington, D.C. offices on Thursday, federal workers in North Texas say they are constantly looking over their shoulders to see if they will be targeted next.
“It’s in the gutter. It’s horrible,” a woman named Brenda said of morale inside the General Services Administration offices in the DFW metroplex. “And they’re constantly pounding on you to resign, resign, resign.”
WFAA agreed to hide her identity because she fears reprisals.
“It’s just such a fear, a fear factor, every single day of what’s gonna happen next,” she said. “People are scared to death. They won’t hardly talk at the office. They’re scared.”
The General Services Administration (GSA) manages buildings and real estate for the federal government and audits businesses for compliance with federal regulations.
As a GSA employee with nearly two decades experience, she says she and fellow employees have received nearly two dozen emails dedicated to information on elimination of DEI programs and workforce reductions, including the deferred resignation “fork in the road” agreement that has, according to the White House, led approximately 75,000 federal employees to accept an early retirement offer. One of the most recent emails was the “What did you do last week?” letter that asked federal employees to list five things they accomplished.
“The information you provide is for informational purposes only and is not intended to supersede GSA’s Associate Performance Plan Appraisal System or GSA’s obligations in relation to the collective bargaining agreements that apply to certain members of our GSA workforce,” acting GSA Administrator Stephen Ehikian said via email.
“Per President Trump’s directives concerning the federal workforce, there will be a multi-step approach to reducing the size of the federal workforce and consolidating redundant operations,” Ehikian said in another.
Brenda did not accept the deferred resignation offer and hopes to continue working for GSA until a traditional retirement date. She agreed to talk to WFAA to give the general public an idea what it’s like to be a federal worker right now.
“We are not the enemy. We’re Americans. We’re veterans,” she said. “We deserve respect for what we do. And they are showing no respect for us, for the law, anything. They are just running roughshod over everything. There’s a billionaire in charge and people are afraid what will happen to me.”
According to ABC News, the Trump administration is directing all federal agencies to “promptly” begin preparations for large-scale layoffs and restructuring, and submit plans for doing do so by March 13.
The memo, from White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, and Charles Ezell, the head of the Office of Personnel Management, was issued Wednesday morning and includes instructions for agencies to follow as they work to downsize their workforces and, in some cases, physical footprints.
