New executive order leaves federal jobs in jeopardy 

Heciel Nieves Bonilla, Contributing Writer

Employees of the federal government in the Richmond area and beyond have been suddenly fired and purged from their departments amidst lawsuits and confusion over the actions’ legality and permanence.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 21 creating the Department of Government Efficiency, a quasi-governmental organization headed by Elon Musk, a Trump ally and the current richest person in the world. 

The new administration also began replacing leadership at the Office of Personnel Management — which oversees workers across the federal government — with former and current investment partners and employees of Musk’s, according to WIRED. 

These two organizations have overseen a period of turnover and turmoil in the federal government that federal workers and onlookers said is unlike anything they’ve ever seen,  according to NPR. 

Probationary IRS employees at Richmond’s downtown Federal Building were laid off on Feb. 20 through an email. Former revenue officer Shawn Hartley said they were “trying to hold it together” after being fired, according to CBS 6. 

“I guess I just have to start searching for a job and hoping I find one in time to pay my bills and keep a roof over my head,” Hartley told CBS. 

Effects are also being felt at the Maggie L Walker National Historic Site, a complex in the Jackson Ward neighborhood under National Park Service jurisdiction. Layoffs at this department have forced this site to operate just on Friday and Saturday, as opposed to all week. 

On-the-ground financial assistance workers have been fired throughout the country. Former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau worker Taylor Sonne said the firings seem aimed at reducing the agency’s strength and not at removing low performers, according to NPR.

“I was incredibly happy to be able to protect consumers on a federal level. It truly is a nonpartisan mission, which is unfortunate that it’s been so heavily politicized. It’s really something that the American people can’t afford to lose,” Taylor told NPR. 

DOGE and OPM actions have been developing daily since the inauguration. Relevant actions on Feb. 28 included the firing of 800 NOAA employees tasked with weather and storm study and tracking, a federal judge ruling that the probationary firings are unlawful with an as yet unclear effect on the firings themselves and an announcement from Musk that another round of ultimatum emails demanding descriptions of the week’s work from every applicable employee. 

Mike Porter, associate vice president for public relations at VCU, said direct VCU employees are state and not federal employees, meaning they are not affected by recent layoffs. 

“Federal funding does support research across VCU, but at this point, of the more than 850 federal grants VCU has been awarded for this year, fewer than 10 have been terminated or paused,” Porter said.

In addition, no changes are apparent at Richmond International Airport as of yet, according to Troy Bell, airport marketing and air service development director.

“Federal workers have not shared their thoughts publicly, but I can say that the airport greatly appreciates the mission-critical contributions federal employees such as those working for the FAA, TSA and USCBP make every day at RIC,” Bell said. 

Federal employees who are still at their jobs have been reluctant to make such public statements at all since January, according to The Atlantic. 

“Many workers say they live in a constant state of fear, unable to trust their colleagues, unable to speak freely, reflexively engaging in self-censorship even on matters they view as crucial to national security,” the article said.

Charles Conyers, professor of political science at VCU and a longtime federal employee, worked at a senior level at the Office of Personnel Management. He said the federal workforce is “demonized and demoralized” under the current administration.

“The air of intimidation and the utter disregard for laws and regulations has never been so pervasive in the administration of Civil Service since the days before passage of the Pendleton Act of 1883,” Conyers said. 

The Pendleton Act established the Civil Service Commission to enforce neutrality and merit in the federal workforce. This commission was replaced by OPM, which established the Civil Service’s loyalty to the Constitution and not the President.

“The selection of staff in opposition to this loyalty has never been as brazen as the pending enactment of Schedule ‘F,’” Conyers said. 

Conyers said “intellectual brain drain,” with firings and retirements absent succession planning, will impact service provision and transparency for generations to come. 

“Lastly, the morale of the workforces has been severely damaged as well as the ability to recruit future generations of public servants,” Conyers said.

Conyers said his OPM colleagues were professionals and true subject matter experts in the delivery of human resources services, products and policy for the entire executive branch. 

“These people believed in the mission of the agency to serve the public and our federal peers,” Conyers said. “They invested years learning the nuances of the laws and regulations to provide guidance and services correctly the first time. While efficiency is not a proper measurement of the public sector, effectiveness, fairness, accuracy and transparency are.”

Creating agencies led by campaign donors and giving them access to government data without security clearances or regard to privacy leads to confusion and misrepresentation of agencies’ missions, according to Conyers. 

“The ability for them to glean data for personal gain and find advantages over competitors is the precursor to a monopolistic economy. There have always been the rich in America, but now this new normal is the establishment of the oligarchical class,” Conyers said.