Flag hung upside down in Yosemite National Park following layoffs
Yosemite National Park staff members hung a U.S. flag upside down to protest the layoffs at the park by the Trump administration. Credit: Anand K Sankaran via Storyful
I know what it’s like to grow up in a household where a steady paycheck means everything. My mother, a nurse in Miami, worked long shifts to keep me and my brother fed, housed and hopeful for a better future.
Families like ours didn’t have safety nets – we had paychecks. When money was tight, sacrifices were made. That’s why it’s infuriating to watch President Donald Trump threaten the livelihoods of tens of thousands of federal workers, treating them like numbers on a spreadsheet instead of real people with real families to feed.
Federal employees aren’t nameless bureaucrats sitting behind desks in Washington. They’re the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) crisis hotline workers talking a veteran off the ledge.
It’s infuriating to watch President Donald Trump threaten the livelihoods of tens of thousands of federal workers. (Evan Vucci/AP)
They’re the Department of Education specialists holding school districts accountable to kids with disabilities. They’re the TSA agents waking up before dawn to ensure your flight is safe.
PROTECT AMERICAN WORKERS: HOW TRUMP'S TEAM CAN FULFILL HIS PROMISE
These are the people Trump wants to lay off – people who have dedicated their lives to public service only to be told they’re expendable. Many live outside our nation’s capital and are the neighbors, relatives, friends and associates of everyday folks making up our great country.
Take Maria Alvarez, a single mother in Virginia who’s worked for the Department of Housing and Urban Development for more than a decade. She helps low-income families navigate the federal housing system so they can access the American dream of owning a home. "I’ve given my life to public service," Alvarez told ABC News. "And this is how we’re repaid?"
She’s not alone. Thousands of dedicated federal workers are now wondering how they’ll pay their mortgages, afford childcare and put food on the table.
TRUMP’S 'CHINA FIRST' RECORD: SELLING THE WEST’S ECONOMY AND NATIONAL SECURITY OUT TO BEIJING
And it’s not just them who will suffer. Layoffs at the the VA will gut the agency’s suicide prevention hotline, a lifeline for struggling veterans. If you’ve ever spoken to someone who has served in combat, you know these services are crucial. When our troops return home, many carry wounds that aren’t visible.
Thanks to Trump’s cuts, some may call for help only to find no one on the other end of the line.
Meanwhile, cuts to the Department of Education will leave underfunded schools with even fewer resources. America’s public school classroom educators – already stretched thin – will lose critical federal support for special education, school lunch programs and low-income student assistance.
Growing up, I knew plenty of kids who depended on those programs to get by. Trump’s decision will hurt them the most.
But this isn’t just a moral failure – it’s an economic disaster waiting to happen.
DEMOCRATS, GET OVER THE OBAMA COALITION. TIME TO GROW ANEW
Every first-year economics student learns that government spending is crucial to GDP. The federal government plays an outsized role in stabilizing the economy, not just through direct employment but investments in infrastructure, public services and research. Slashing that spending – especially through mass layoffs – weakens the entire economic foundation.
Federal jobs inject money into local economies, fund essential programs and drive broader economic growth. Cutting them so dramatically could stall government input into GDP, leaving a hole that private industry won’t quickly fill.
All of this is happening while Trump’s pending trade wars with Canada and Mexico are hurting businesses that rely on cross-border commerce. Agriculture, manufacturing and transportation industries are bracing for higher costs and supply chain disruptions.
Add in thousands of newly unemployed government workers, and you have the perfect recipe for economic stagnation. Instead of strengthening the economy, Trump’s policies actively weaken it.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION
If cutting government spending helped the economy, we’d be seeing results by now. But we’re not. Inflation is still hitting American families, wages aren’t keeping up and the cost of living continues to climb. Laying off thousands of workers in the middle of this crisis isn’t just cruel – it’s bad economics.
Growing up, my mother always said, "A budget reflects your values." If you care about something, you invest in it. If you don’t, you cut it.
Right now, Trump’s priorities couldn’t be clearer – mass layoffs for working people and more money for the wealthiest among us. That’s not leadership. That’s not "America First." That’s a betrayal of the very people who make this country work.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The federal workforce doesn’t deserve to be treated like a political bargaining chip. These are real people, doing real jobs, serving real communities. If Trump truly cared about the American worker, he’d be fighting to protect their jobs, not cutting them loose.
At the end of the day, a government that abandons its workers abandons its people, and we should all be outraged.
Best of Opinion
Get the recap of top opinion commentary and original content throughout the week.
By entering your email and clicking the Subscribe button, you agree to the Fox News Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, and agree to receive content and promotional communications from Fox News. You understand that you can opt-out at any time.