Hoyer Remarks at Press Conference to Announce the Protect Our Probationary Employees Act
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (MD-05) joined Congresswoman Sarah Elfreth (MD-03), Members of Congress, and fired probationary employees for a press conference to announce the bipartisan Protect Our Probationary Employees Act. Below is a transcript of his remarks:
“Ashley and Maddie, thank you very, very much. [You are two] perfect example of extraordinary employees for the American people… Let’s put this in context. If I wanted to make the federal government the least efficient I could possibly make it, I would do exactly what Musk has done. Exactly. I would make sure that every employee focused on the fact that they might lose their job, as opposed to focusing on their job. Fearful the next day. Now, I don’t just suppose that, I know that.
“Let me quote Russell Vought, who really designed much of what is going on and is being implemented by Elon Musk and his cohort. Here’s what Vought said: 'We want bureaucrats to be traumatically affected. When they wake up in the morning, we want them to not to want to go to work because they are increasingly viewed as the villains. We want to put them in trauma.' Is there an American who thinks that that’s what they want to do to the people who serve them every day? Put them in trauma? Have them believe that they’re being looked at as villains? Not one of these people is a villain. Every one of these people here, including the Members of Congress, are serving the American people.
“So, I want to congratulate my colleague Sarah Elfreth for introducing this bill, this bipartisan bill. I want to thank every one of the folks who are here: Ashley, Emmanuel, Maddie, Nicole, Anthony J., Daniel, Madelyn…if I left somebody out, I apologize. The past few weeks we have watched Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Russell Vought, and “DOG-ee” – I know some people call it DOGE, but that’s too fancy a name for what is going on – try to make the federal government the least efficient it can be so that they can claim, ‘Oh the government doesn’t work,’ because that’s what they’re causing.
“Their actions are unprecedented, illegal, and cruel. Our federal workers, especially our probationary employees, have borne the brunt of this assault…
“You're seeing the seed corn. What is the seed corn? The seed corn is that which you plant which will make sure you have more growth, more sustenance, more support.
“I want to think about Julie, a Marylander, a probationary employee at the Treasury Department. She supports the Office of Comptroller of the Currency’s work to protect consumers from discriminatory lending, fraud, money laundering, and other predatory financial practices. Now there’s somebody who is senior to her who is doing that work. They were trained, they had an opportunity to work…But if we fire them, put them out of training, particularly when – as you saw – they are outstanding performers…
“Julie left her long-time home in Atlanta – as well as her family and friends – to take this job at the Treasury. Why? Because she believes in the work, and because she knows she is the most qualified person to do it, and that’s why they hired her; her stellar performance evaluation [said], ‘outstanding, outstanding, outstanding,’ [had] affirmed it. Her probationary period was set to end on March 24th. She was terminated on March 8th.
“Cruel, illegal, immoral, but mostly illegal. The saddest part of Julie’s story is that it is not unique. Trump, Musk, and Vought do not care who or what they do. They did this so quickly that they knew everything about how they would do it with their emails and social media, [but] what they didn’t have any idea was the consequences of their actions, which we have seen have put people’s lives at risk. The basic biomineral research at risk, put nursing skills at risk, put veterans at risk, put families at risk, put jurisdictions at risk. We know that the real villains are not those who are being fired, not those who serve others, but those who serve only themselves. That’s why I am so proud to support and fight for the bill that Sarah Elfreth put on as a bipartisan bill. I will reiterate: 15% of federal employees live in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia area. 85% live every place else."