By Megan Sayles
AFRO Staff Writer
msayles@afro.com
The national president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) has sounded off about the consequences of sweeping cuts to the federal workforce and federal programs at the direction of the 47th president and his new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Credit: AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough
Everett Kelley, who became president in 2020, spoke directly to federal employees who have been laid off or worry they could lose their jobs as part of the downsizing.
“What we’re seeing is an illegal permanent shutdown of many agencies from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), to the Department of Education, to the Environmental Protection Agency,” said Kelley. “Over the next few weeks, everything will be at stake—our jobs, of course, but also our pay; benefits, like health insurance; and our basic rights to unionize and negotiate collective bargaining agreements.”
The AFGE is the largest union for federal employees, representing more than 820,000 workers across the United States. Kelley addressed civil servants and the public during a virtual town hall hosted by Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-Md.-07).
The union president characterized the path forward as one of legal battles with the administration. He said the AFGE itself has filed several lawsuits to challenge the assault on the civil service. One contests the 47th president’s Schedule F plan, which would reclassify numerous federal workers and make them easier to fire.
“It will be months before many of these cases are finally decided, but AFGE is hopeful that we will prevail in the end,” said Kelley. “We also must be realistic though. The bottom line is that the law has made it hard for federal employees to sue the government. This means we can’t count on the courts to save us.”
During the town hall, Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown expanded on some of the lawsuits disputing the actions of the 47th president and his administration.
In February, Brown joined a coalition of 22 other states fighting to preserve funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) after the White House announced plans to slash $4 billion from the agency. The attorney general explained that this would not only stifle groundbreaking medical research at Maryland’s leading institutions, like Johns Hopkins University, it would also jeopardize Marylanders’ jobs.
As a result of the suit, a federal judge in Massachusetts issued a temporary restraining order on the cuts.
“While we’re enjoying some wins, we’ve got a long way to go to ensure victory on behalf of the people of Maryland and in this country,” said Brown.
The attorney general also has defended against the administration’s efforts to fire federal employees. In March, Brown led a coalition of 20 attorneys general to sue federal agencies that have executed mass layoffs of probationary employees.
He said hundreds, if not thousands, of federal workers in Maryland have been terminated.
“These federal employees who work in agencies – whether it’s the Department of Justice, the Department of Labor or the Environmental Protection Agency – are being terminated or threatened with termination, leaving many Marylanders without their livelihoods,” said Brown. “But, just yesterday, a federal judge in California blocked the firing of federal probationary workers.”
Mfume pointed out that the state of Maryland is one of the states with the largest population of federal workers. He contended that the 47th president’s actions have defied the rule of law and U.S. Constitution.
A ranking member of the House Subcommittee on Government Operations, Mfume supports eliminating inefficiencies in government. But, he said, it must be done in the right way.
“We all know that when you take a meat cleaver instead of a scalpel to try to root out waste, fraud and abuse, what you do is make the patient worse,” said Mfume. “For most of us, we too want to do away with waste, fraud and abuse in our government, but we want to do it strategically, surgically and so that we can validate whatever results we are getting.”
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