The Purge of Public Servants

The "Red Wedding" for federal employees undermines more than public trust.

Of all the things I’ve done in my career, I’m perhaps proudest of the many students, staffers, and other young professionals I’ve convinced to go into public service.

Last week, most of them were fired.

The mass layoffs at my former home, the Department of Energy, and across the administration are devastating to these professionals, who entered public service to SERVE THE PUBLIC—not because they couldn’t get jobs elsewhere (trust me, they could), or because they’re lazy or “unproductive” (the characterization of government jobs in a widespread memo to federal employees). Students of mine from the seven years I’ve taught at Stanford University and UC Berkeley have many, many options. Many of the best and brightest went into government because they were convinced they could help move markets, drive policy change, and create broadly shared prosperity across America. They moved across the country, in some cases convincing their families to move with them, to make the dream a reality. Now they’re victims of a culture that believes government is inherently wasteful, and government workers inherently sub-par. It’s offensive and wrong.

But it’s more than that. Civil servants are truly the backbone of this country. They ensure our roads, bridges, transmission networks, waterways, and other infrastructure projects are safe and effective. They clean up and rebuild after disasters. They administer fundamental programs like Social Security and Medicare. They invest in vaccines and other life-saving medications. They support investments into technologies too risky for the private sector, but critically important for our national security and economic health. Have solar panels? Initially commercialized through NASA contracts. Ditto. Like your GPS map on your phone? Department of Defense. And of course, there’s the Internet itself.

These investments and innovations may have been seeded with Congressional funding, but it’s agency employees—the federal workforce—that turns Congressional language into reality. Turning these experts out onto the street leaves a huge void. It will slow down funding and create expensive delays. In the energy sector, just as demand increases exponentially from one of the administration’s favorite technologies, AI, these layoffs combined with funding freezes will cut off supply — driving up electricity costs for the very Americans the President has said he wants to save from high prices.

It turns out that a functional organization relies on committed, competent staff. Putting federal staff out on the street is, put simply, cruel. It’s also short-sighted. This ideological political move will undermine any real policy change this administration hopes to accomplish, while driving up delays, costs, and voter resentment.

You may ask, what can I do about this situation? One thing you can do is to hire laid-off federal workers. I’m here to tell you they’re smart, committed, and mission-driven. Another is to point them toward resources, like those collected by Representative Gerry Connolly here.

Meanwhile, it’s time for all of us to talk openly and often about the value these workers provide to our communities and our country. I could not be prouder of my time in state and federal service, or of the many students and friends I’ve supported as they’ve entered service in government agencies and the military over the years. Let’s stand up for and with them now. It’s not a time to be silent.