Trump Purge Hits Bay Area Federal Workers

KQED's Forum

KQED

News, Politics, News Commentary

4.2 • 726 Ratings

🗓️ 26 February 2025

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Thousands of government employees have lost their jobs as part of the Trump’s Administration’s purge of the federal workforce, led by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. Many workers have also been sent emails demanding they justify their jobs, or face termination. We’ll look at how federal workers in the Bay Area and beyond are coping with the chaos and uncertainty, how some are fighting back, and what the purge could mean for government services. Guests: Max Stier, CEO and president, Partnership for Public Service - a nonprofit group that promotes best practices in government. Courtney Rozen, federal workforce reporter, Bloomberg Law Mark Smith, president, National Federation of Federal Employees Local 1 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for Forum comes from Rancho La Puerta, a wellness resort in Baja, California, just an hour from San Diego,
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0:27.3	Support for Forum comes from Broadway S.F. presenting Parade, the musical revival based on a
0:33.2	true story. From three-time Tony-winning composer Jason Robert Brown comes the story of Leo and
0:39.7	Lucille Frank, a newlywed Jewish couple struggling to make a life in Georgia. When Leo is accused
0:46.3	of an unspeakable crime, it propels them into an unimaginable test of faith, humanity, justice,
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1:02.6	The riveting and gloriously hopeful parade plays the Orphium Theater for three weeks only, May 20th through June 8th.
1:06.9	Tickets on sale now at Broadway, sF.com.
1:09.5	From KQED. From KQED. From KQED in San Francisco, I'm Arthy Shahani, in for Alexis Madrigal.
1:26.6	Thousands of federal workers in the Bay Area are on edge,
1:30.9	unsure if they will have a job tomorrow. They are getting a barrage of conflicting emails from
1:36.3	senders who are not their supervisors, ordering these workers to justify why their job exists
1:41.7	and what they have accomplished. Supervisors are completely in the dark.
1:46.0	This chaos is part of the Trump administration's purge of the federal workforce, led by Elon Musk's
1:51.9	Department of Government's Efficiency. We'll speak with directly affected workers and to experts on what
1:57.7	the mass layoffs could mean for government services.
2:03.1	That's coming up next after this news.
2:14.6	Alexis Madrigal here.
	...

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