# Trump’s federal layoffs are a betrayal of working Americans

The federal workforce doesn’t deserve to be treated like a political bargaining chip

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Published March 12, 2025 5:00am EDT

I know what it’s like to grow up in a household where a steady paycheck means everything. My mother, a nurse in Miami, worked long shifts to keep me and my brother fed, housed, and . 

Families like ours didn’t have safety nets – we had paychecks. When money was tight, sacrifices were made. That’s why it’s infuriating to watch President  threaten the livelihoods of tens of thousands of federal workers, treating them like numbers on a spreadsheet instead of real people with real families to feed.

Federal employees aren’t nameless bureaucrats sitting behind desks in Washington. They’re the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) crisis hotline workers talking a veteran off the ledge.



It’s infuriating to watch President Donald Trump threaten the livelihoods of tens of thousands of federal workers. (Evan Vucci/AP)

They’re the  specialists holding school districts accountable to kids with disabilities. They’re the TSA agents waking up before dawn to ensure your flight is safe.



And it’s not just them who will suffer. Layoffs at the VA will gut the agency’s suicide prevention hotline, a . If you’ve ever spoken to someone who has served in combat, you know these services are crucial. When our troops return home, many carry wounds that aren’t visible.

Thanks to Trump’s cuts, some may call for help only to find no one on the other end of the line.

Meanwhile, cuts to the Department of Education will leave underfunded schools with even fewer resources. America’s public school classroom educators – already stretched thin – will lose critical federal support for special education, school lunch programs and low-income student assistance.

Growing up, I knew plenty of kids who depended on those programs to get by. Trump’s decision will hurt them the most.

But this isn’t just a moral failure – it’s an economic disaster waiting to happen.



All of this is happening while Trump’s pending trade wars with Canada and Mexico are hurting businesses that rely on cross-border commerce. Agriculture, manufacturing and transportation industries are bracing for higher costs and supply chain disruptions.



If cutting government spending helped the economy, we’d be seeing results by now. But we’re not.  American families, wages aren’t keeping up and the cost of living continues to climb. Laying off thousands of workers in the middle of this crisis isn’t just cruel – it’s bad economics.

Growing up, my mother always said, "A budget reflects your values." If you care about something, you invest in it. If you don’t, you cut it.

Right now, Trump’s priorities couldn’t be clearer – mass layoffs for working people and more money for the wealthiest among us. That’s not leadership. That’s not "America First." That’s a betrayal of the very people who make this country work.


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