Photo by Robert Claypool via Flickr.
An employee of the Department of Agriculture was told she would be fired thirty days after the government shutdown ends because she appeared on MSNBC, according to a report by The Washington Post.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) program, commonly referred to as food stamps, was among many government programs affected by the ongoing shutdown. The suspension of benefits was one of the most contentious issues as Republicans and Democrats sparred over how to move forward, and 25 states and the District of Columbia (a group of those led by Democratic governors and attorneys general) sued the USDA, arguing that the federal government had a legal obligation to fund food stamps and should be required to tap into USDA emergency funds to do so.
Ellen Mei, a program specialist with the Food and Nutrition Service and president of the union for the employees in her division in the Northeast, was among the USDA employees who were furloughed during the shutdown.
On Oct. 2, she was interviewed on MSNBC by Chris Jansing about the impacts of the shutdown. Jansing introduced Mei by saying she was speaking for herself and as president of her union, not on behalf of the USDA.
One day later, the Post reported, Mei was informed by a human resources department official at the USDA that she would be fired 30 days after the end of the shutdown in a message that accused her of discussing the agency “without prior approval.” She was given 20 days to contest her termination.
Everything Mei discussed in her four-minute interview “was publicly available through a variety of news articles and guidance from anti-hunger advocates, think tanks and organizations,” the Post noted, and the threat to fire her “has sparked concerns and outrage among other USDA workers and members of the Federal Unionists Network, who argue that the move is part of a concerted effort by the Trump administration to chill speech among federal employees.”
Mei told the Post that she had made numerous other media appearances during her employment at the USDA and as a union leader, including radio and newspaper interviews in Boston, where she lives, and views the threat to fire her as retaliation.
“As I was and have been speaking in my personal capacity and in my capacity as union representative, I am not required to ask for permission to speak on behalf of me or my co-workers,” said Mei. “Especially speaking on behalf of my co-workers as the union president, that is a right that I am granted by the Federal Labor Management statute. So I do not need to ask for permission.”
Mei went back on MSNBC Thursday for an interview with Ana Cabrera, who introduced the segment by noting that Mei said she was “facing retaliation” by being fired for the interview with Jansing, cuing up a clip from that Oct. 2 appearance.
During that appearance with Jansing, Mei said she and her agency colleagues were “anxious because we’re hearing about the risk potentials and office closures that are looming over USDA as this shutdown kind of drags on.”
Mei added that they believed SNAP benefits “will be okay for the month of October,” but things might get a little dicey if this drags on into November or even past that.”
Speaking with Cabrera, Mei reiterated that she was sharing her “own personal view” and “not representing the agency, just like I wasn’t on October 2nd.”
“As you showed in the clip,” Mei said, “I was clearly representing my own views and the views of my chapter members, as I’m also the chapter president for the USDA food and nutrition services northeast regional office, which is based in Boston. And I have a duty as a chapter president to represent the views of my coworkers. And I have a duty and a right to do so under the federal labor management statute.”
She told Cabrera she was “honestly really confused” when she got the letter, because “The New York Times and NPR had already published everything that I had said about SNAP and WIC,” or it was information that was posted on the USDA website.
With the shutdown ended, the 30-day clock for her termination had begun, and Mei said she was working with her union lawyer on the next steps but also wanting to “focus on getting back to work” on “reducing hunger” and “increasing food security in a manner that inspires public confidence.”
Watch the clip above via MSNBC.
The post USDA Preparing to Fire Employee Who Appeared on MSNBC to Discuss Shutdown’s Impact on SNAP Benefits first appeared on Mediaite.
