Murray, a Washington state Democrat, and the union leaders said federal workers are suffering panic attacks and losing sleep due to the “staggering and unprecedented assault” by the Trump administration and the country will suffer without them.
“They’re worried about their jobs. They’re worried about their families. They’re also worried about their work and the communities they serve,” Helen Bottcher, a former Environmental Protection Agency employee and current union leader in Seattle said during a news conference hosted by Murray.
The people being targeted inspect meat, make sure baby formula is safe, protect consumers from fraud, provide veterans with health care, send weather forecasts to wildland firefighters and ensure the Hanford nuclear waste cleanup is done properly, Murray said.
“They deserve better than to be threatened, intimidated and pushed out the door by Elon Musk and Donald Trump,” Murray said. “But make no mistake, we actually need these people to stay in their jobs or things are going to start breaking.”