Many Minnesotans are among those facing unemployment, as the Trump administration and the Department of Government Efficiency slash jobs across agencies to shrink the government’s footprint.

Minnesota is home to more than 18,000 federal workers, with nearly 60 percent working for the Department of Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. On average, they make just over $100,000 a year and have served for 10.5 years.

Those getting termination letters have probationary status because they were recently hired, transferred or got a promotion. Probationary workers have fewer union protections.

Many report that their termination letters also cite poor performance as a reason for the firing. That typically prevents people from claiming unemployment benefits.

Unions that represent federal workers have filed a lawsuit to challenge the mass firings; a judge Friday refused to temporarily block them while the case is heard. Others are considering lodging class action lawsuits against the administration.

Many fired workers are not speaking publicly, but here are four Minnesotans who did.

She moved out of state for her dream job, then lost it a year later

Until this week, Emma Schultz was a timber sale administrator with the U.S. Forest Service in Durango, Colorado. She left her job with Minnesota Department of Natural Resources about a year ago and moved with her husband and two children to pursue her dream job.

That job was eliminated with the Trump administration’s reduction of the federal workforce, including about 3,400 Forest Service jobs.

“It’s rough, it feels surreal, it feels hard,” she said. “Everything feels pretty difficult, but at the same time, I knew it was coming.”

Schultz was a Schedule A employee, a status that allows federal agencies to streamline the process of hiring people with disabilities. In a post on Instagram, she wrote that she was terminated “illegally."

“My supervisor was expecting it, since I was a Schedule A hire on a two-year probationary period,” she said. “I sat around last weekend, all weekend, waiting for the news. It came through close to 5 p.m. on Sunday in an email that was confusing at best, offensive as well.”

The forest service falls under the USDA, which sent MPR News this statement:

“Secretary Rollins fully supports the President’s directive to improve government, eliminate inefficiencies, and strengthen USDA’s many services to the American people. We have a solemn responsibility to be good stewards of the American people’s hard-earned taxpayer dollars and to ensure that every dollar spent goes to serve the people, not the bureaucracy.

“As part of this effort, USDA has made the difficult decision to release about 2,000 probationary, non-firefighting employees from the Forest Service. To be clear, none of these individuals were operational firefighters. Released employees were probationary in status, many of whom were compensated by temporary IRA funding. It’s unfortunate that the Biden administration hired thousands of people with no plan in place to pay them long term. Secretary Rollins is committed to preserving essential safety positions and will ensure that critical services remain uninterrupted.”

Schultz’s job involved working with loggers to sell timber in a way that encouraged forest health.

“I spent close to two decades trying to find a job with the U.S. Forest Service,” she said. “I finally took a leap of faith just over a year ago, moved my family out here. We used up our very limited savings so that I could have this opportunity. And until the past few weeks, it was paradise.”

According to the Colorado Sun, Schultz was one of 150 federal employees who lost their jobs in the state, which has 24 million acres of land managed by the federal government.

“It hurts, but I think it hurts way more than beyond myself,” Schultz said. “I worry about the fate of our public lands.”

Listen to the full interview with Schultz below:

— Reported by Cathy Wurzer and Heidi Raschke

His job was dealing with the kinds of employees DOGE says it’s firing. Then DOGE fired him

John Helcl had only been on the job with the Veterans Administration for a month when he found out he was being terminated.

“My supervisor reached out to me by text and by phone call,” explained Helcl, whose employment status had been in its probationary period.

The veteran and former law enforcement officer had just taken a pay cut to get back into the public sector, after working 10 years in the private sector.

He sees irony in his termination. Helcl’s job at the VA was to save the government money by investigating questionable work performance of fellow federal employees.

“It is a betrayal,” said Helcl. “I understand budget saving measures — I actually can kind of appreciate that — but, at the same time, you don't cure the disease by killing the patient.”

Helcl said he is hopeful a class action lawsuit against the Trump administration cuts will be successful. In the meantime, he’s already looking for work in the education field.

Helcl said some federal employees he knows who remain on the job fear they might be next on Trump’s chopping block.

“I have former colleagues that have actively started searching. They don’t want to just stand by and wait to be the next wave of employees that are separated,” Helcl said.

— Reported by Mark Zdechlik

Minneapolis school clinics now scrambling to staff reproductive health classes, STI testing

MacClement Guthrie is among some 3,000 public health workers and scientists who are out of a job, after a wave of mass firings in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

He was a public health advisor working with Minneapolis school-based clinics through a fellowship under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He taught high school classes on reproductive health, including sexually transmitted infections.

He also saw patients in nine school clinics for STI testing and emergency contraceptives. Guthrie said his former colleagues are now scrambling to staff the classes and appointments.

While he said he saw “the writing on the wall” weeks ahead, the news came suddenly.

He and his colleagues were informed late on Feb. 14 that there would be layoffs. He then received a letter the following Saturday night informing him he had been terminated.

Guthrie said he and his colleagues in the program — all of whom lost their jobs — are looking into pursuing a class-action lawsuit.

“We do feel that these terminations were made without cause, unfairly, and we hope to be able to continue doing this important work.”

Listen to the full interview with Guthrie below:

— Reported by Tom Crann and Ngoc Bui

‘Door slammed shut’ on this small business owner turned public servant

Last week, Chris Wicker received two termination letters, ending his employment as deputy director of the Minnesota district office for the U.S. Small Business Administration.

He said the first letter looked unofficial and was quickly rescinded.

“It just said, in almost cruel terms, that your performance makes you unfit for public service and you have two weeks to clear out of your job,” he said.

A second came 24 hours later. This time, it had official letterhead and was signed by the acting administrator.

“It was 4:30 in the evening, so I had no choice but to close my laptop. And that was the end,” Wicker said.

The Air Force veteran was a probationary employee because he had only spent 8 months in the role. He said his supervisor, colleagues and clients were all happy with his work, which involves helping local businesses with financing and other resources.

“I love small business. I used to own a small business, and all I wanted to do was give back,” Wicker said. “When this position came available, I jumped at the chance. This was my lucky break.”

He said he had wanted to bring his private-sector experience to the public sector, “but this door feels like it's been slammed pretty hard shut on me.”

Still, Wicker is defending his former public-sector colleagues.

“I’ve heard a lot of chatter about these faceless bureaucrats that are lazily teleworking from some tropical island,” he said, referring to messages he’s seen on social media. “And I believe so firmly that every single person that I have worked with has been a dedicated, passionate public servant. They are not the people that have been described. I am not the kind of person that was described.”

Listen to the full interview with Wicker below:

— Reported by Nina Moini and Ellie Roth

Collected from Minnesota Public Radio News. View original source here.