Federal worker says Trump administration retaliated against her over MSNBC interview about shutdown

A federal worker says she believes the Trump administration is retaliating against her over an interview she gave MSNBC last month about the negative impacts the government shutdown would have on millions of Americans who rely on food stamps.

According to documentation reviewed by the Washington Post, Ellen Mei – a furloughed program specialist at the Food and Nutrition Service – is scheduled to be fired by the Agriculture Department once she returns to work following this week’s end to the shutdown. Mei is also the president of the National Treasury Employees Union’s Chapter 255, which represents USDA employees in the Northeast.

“I want to focus on getting back to work,” Mei said in an MSNBC interview on Thursday, discussing the retaliation from the government. “Many of my coworkers have returned to work today, and I’m still here sitting at home. Instead of helping our state agencies, the SNAP recipients, unwind the effects of the shutdown.”

During her Oct. 2 interview with MSNBC anchor Chris Jansing, which took place just after the shutdown began, Mei said she and her coworkers were “anxious because we’re hearing about the [reduction in force] potentials and office closures that are looming over USDA” as the impasse dragged on.

Mei added that USDA employees were “feeling angry at being treated as political pawns again so that billionaires can have more money,” all while “the people that we serve are being strained even further and having to worry again about their benefits being at play.” After telling Jansing about the uncertainty she and others felt about their job security, Mei also raised the possibility that SNAP funding would soon run out.

“We expect that all of the states will be able to issue SNAP benefits for the month of October, but things might get a little dicey if this drags on into November or even past that,” she said. “And for programs like WIC, it’s looking a lot more uncertain. It’s possible that they have funding for three days, maybe one week.”

At the top of the interview, Jansing made a point of noting that Mei was “not representing” her employer but was instead speaking for herself. However, the very next day, the USDA informed Mei that they had begun the process of terminating her employment, accusing her of discussing USDA funding “without prior approval.”

In documents reviewed by the Post, the department told Mei that she would be fired 30 days after the government shutdown ended.

Though the administration has accused Mei of sharing government information without permission, the information she discussed at the time was publicly available in media outlets and think-tank guidances, as well as from the USDA itself.

“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,” she told the Post. “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.”

During her Thursday appearance on MSNBC, Mei said she “was honestly really confused when I got that letter because I was replaying everything that I said in my head and trying to remember everything that I had read in preparation of going on the air on October 2nd.” She added that she clearly remembered that the New York Times and NPR had “already published everything that I had said about SNAP and WIC.”

In a memo released on Sept. 30, days before Mei appeared on MSNBC, the USDA noted that SNAP funding would lapse due to the shutdown and that the Office of Management and Budget would have to use reserves to pay out benefits after October if the impasse continued. That note would eventually be scrubbed from OMB’s website after the administration argued in court against using other funds to pay for SNAP.

Speaking to the Post, Mei noted that she had made other media appearances over the years while serving as a union leader and working for the USDA, such as multiple interviews with the Boston Globe and the local radio station GBH. Also, in her union leadership role, she’s issued public statements to the media, including a memo just two days before the shutdown began that urged lawmakers to reject the budget deal.

Because she appeared on national television for the first time on MSNBC, Mei said she felt the USDA was retaliating against her. In its letter to Mei, the USDA said that “although you were not on duty at that time, the actions you took directly relate to your position because they involved programs under your official responsibilities.”

Mei said she plans to appear with other unionized federal workers at a news conference on Friday to protest the USDA’s decision. She has 20 days from the government’s official reopening to appeal her termination.

“This is about sounding the alarm to the public that this administration will stop at nothing,” co-executive director of the Federal Unionists Network Chris Dols said. “They will trot over the services we provide and the rights that we have as federal workers and as Americans.”

Mei said Thursday that she’s been working with her union lawyer and other legal experts on appealing the dismissal notice, adding that she just wants to get back to work.

“I want to get back to doing what my coworkers and I are supposed to be doing. That’s reducing hunger and increasing… food security in a manner that inspires public confidence. And I want to get back to doing that as soon as I can,” she told MSNBC anchor Ana Cabrera.

Federal employment lawyer Debra D’Agostino also told the Post that Mei has a strong case to contest her firing, saying her comments are protected free speech and also are in line with the Whistleblower Protection Act.

“Given that we’re talking about food for Americans, that is a pretty clean argument about a specific danger to public health,” she declared. “I think [Mei] has a very clean argument this is a protected disclosure.”