Kansas Reflector
Two weeks ago, my wife was fired from her job with the federal government. We were playing a board game and having a beer when her phone rang. A colleague asked if she had “got the email.”
Having left her work phone at the office, she had no way of knowing. We bundled into the car and raced across town. After a few minutes inside, she emerged from her office and gave me a thumbs-down as she walked toward the car.
“Fired,” she said, clicking her seatbelt into place.
Unbeknownst to us, tens of thousands of probationary federal employees — those within their first one to two years of service — had received the same email that evening.
The message itself was blank, just a Word document attached with five short paragraphs. The fourth read:
“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.”
If the suddenness of the firing and its financial impact weren’t enough, the baseless claim of poor performance added insult to injury.
My wife was an archaeologist working out of Hays under the National Resource and Conservation Services wing of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It was a dream job and one she had worked and studied for years to achieve. She engaged with Native American tribal groups, local communities, and farmers to ensure the preservation of cultural resources across the plains.
I suspect a lot of people might think that the federal government has no business employing archaeologists, but their work is vital. They document and protect irreplaceable cultural heritage — not just Indigenous histories but also the lives of the settlers and pioneers who shaped the landscape we live on today. They ensure that historical sites and artifacts, from ancient campsites to century-old homesteads, are not lost to development or neglect.
But it wasn’t just archaeologists who were fired. Biologists, soil scientists, water conservation specialists, public health workers and forest service employees were all swept away in the same mass termination. One commenter on a subreddit dedicated to the recently fired employees voiced his frustration with the new administration’s priorities :
“I know I’ll bounce back and land another job. I am grateful that I’m young and that I have support, and I’ll be OK. The thing I can’t get over is that the richest man in the world directed my firing. I make $50k a year and work to keep drinking water safe. The richest man in the world decided that was an expense too great for the American taxpayer.”
Compensation for the entire federal workforce made up just 4.3% of the federal budget in 2024. If the entire federal workforce was eliminated today it would barely put a dent in our national debt, which sits at $36 trillion. This comes alongside plans for further tax cuts from the Trump administration. Some analysts suggest these cuts could add as much as $4.8 trillion to the national debt in the next decade.
Given the relatively minor impact that these job cuts will have on U.S. spending, it is frustrating and vexing to see jubilant celebrations at the elimination of jobs that protect and preserve history, national parks, drinking water, soil health, forests, and environmental and public safety.
The fact that Elon Musk and DOGE chose to begin their scrutinization of government expenditures here rather than starting with the Defense Department and programs like the F-35 fighter jet — a decade behind schedule and $183 billion over budget — speaks volumes.
There is a naive belief that the private sector will absorb responsibility for these services. It is dubious. Many federal agencies exist to preserve and protect history, health, and nature. The private sector lacks sufficient incentive to care for these areas or, worse, has incentives to disregard them.
My wife’s (former) agency, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, was established in 1935 as the Soil Conservation Service in response to the Dust Bowl. Its primary goal was to help farmers and landowners implement practices that prevent soil erosion, improve land productivity, and promote sustainable agriculture. Over the years, the agency expanded its focus to include water conservation, wildlife habitat preservation, and more recently the preservation of cultural resources through archeology.
Small farms and ranches across the state of Kansas appear to be struggling to adapt to new changes in federal funding, while large corporate farms stand poised to absorb them. As the NRCS hemorrhages employees and funding, I wonder which private firm plans to step in to mitigate the effects of soil erosion, nutrient runoff and water contamination? Which start-up company will emerge to look after waterfowl and other wildlife?
My wife and three close friends are among those who were fired without notice and without severance. My wife and I will be OK. We have a strong support network, and while we may have to sell our house, we will find a way through this. Other friends of ours are single or have children and are far more reliant on this one job for their financial security. They will feel the impact of this shock for years to come.
As close friends tighten their belts, prepare to move back in with their families or sell their homes, Elon Musk appeared at the CPAC conference in Washington with a chrome-plated chainsaw, a celebratory talisman of the evisceration of the federal workforce.
The callous indifference to the struggles of fired civil servants and the history, nature, wildlife and people that they work to protect should be an affront to every reasonable American.
Sam Foglesong is a scholar of African Studies and a writer who lives in Hays. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.