The employee, Ellen Mei, a program specialist at the #Food & #Nutrition Service who is furloughed, was interviewed on MSNBC on Oct 2, during the early days of the #shutdown, to talk about how the impasse in Washington would impact her team, as well as the work they do. Mei is also president of the National Treasury Employees #Union’s Chapter 255, which represents employees at #USDA’s Food & Nutrition Service in the Northeast.
#Trump #law #labor #SNAP #Constitution #FirstAmendment #FreeSpeech
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The employee, Ellen Mei, a program specialist at the #Food & #Nutrition Service who is furloughed, was interviewed on MSNBC on Oct 2, during the early days of the #shutdown, to talk about how the impasse in Washington would impact her team, as well as the work they do. Mei is also president of the National Treasury Employees #Union’s Chapter 255, which represents employees at #USDA’s Food & Nutrition Service in the Northeast.
#Trump #law #labor #SNAP #Constitution #FirstAmendment #FreeSpeech
In the 4-min interview, Mei said she & her co-workers are “anxious because we’re hearing about the risk potentials & office closures that are looming over #USDA as this #shutdown kind of drags on.” She also explained that funding for key #FoodAssistance programs, including #SNAP — which feeds ~42M Americans monthly — would probably be available in October, but that “things might get a little dicey if this drags on into November.”
[gee such a fireable offense!]
The next day, #USDA informed Mei that the process to remove her from her position had begun. In correspondence reviewed by WaPo, an official in the USDA human resources dept told Mei that she will be let go 30 days after the #shutdown ends. The agency accused Mei of discussing USDA programs & funding “without prior approval.”
#Trump #law #labor #SNAP #Constitution #FirstAmendment #FreeSpeech
…The threat of Mei’s dismissal has sparked concerns & outrage among other USDA workers & members of the Federal Unionists Network, who argue that the move is part of a concerted effort by the #Trump admin to chill #speech among federal employees.
At the time Mei spoke to MSNBC, the information she shared was publicly available through a variety of news articles & guidance from anti-hunger advocates, think tanks & organizations.
#USDA itself, in a memo dated Sept30, explained that #SNAP funding would lapse because of the #shutdown & that the #OMB would use contingency reserves to pay for benefits past Oct. That memo, however, was scrubbed from the agency’s website later in Oct, once the #Trump admin began arguing against tapping contingency funds to pay for benefits.
In the MSNBC interview, host Chris Jansing also explained that Mei was speaking as herself & a #union leader, not a USDA employee.
#law #labor #FreeSpeech
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