Trump Administration to Fire USDA Employee Who Warned About SNAP Funding in MSNBC Interview

A federal employee says she is being fired after sharing her concerns in an MSNBC interview about how the government shutdown was affecting her and her colleagues — and how it could jeopardize access to SNAP benefits for millions of Americans.

U.S. Department of Agriculture employee Ellen Mei first appeared on MSNBC on Oct. 2, at the beginning of the shutdown. Host Chris Jansing noted that Mei was speaking solely on her own behalf, not as a representative of her employer.

Mei — a program specialist who works with SNAP — explained that she and coworkers were feeling “anxious because we’re hearing about the risk potentials and office closures that are looming over USDA as this shutdown kind of drags on.”

She added that while SNAP benefits would likely be distributed for October, “things might get a little dicey if this drags on into November.”

Mei now says she is facing retaliation from the agency for expressing those concerns publicly. In a follow-up interview on Thursday, Nov. 13, she told MSNBC that she was informed just one day after her original appearance that the USDA intended to fire her for speaking on the network.

According to The Washington Post, correspondence between Mei and a USDA human resources official stated that she would be terminated 30 days after the shutdown ends. The letter also accused her of discussing agency programs and funding “without prior approval,” the outlet reported.

Mei said she was initially unsure why she had received the late-evening notice. “I just remember clearly, I saw that The New York Times and NPR had already published everything that I had said about SNAP and WIC,” she told MSNBC. “I described the programs that are administered by the food and nutrition service — that’s just listed on our website.”

But the reality soon set in: “This is serious. They really mean to fire me for doing things that in the union’s eyes are not punishable in any way.”

Mei emphasized that she was speaking for herself and her fellow union members. “I was clearly representing my own views and the views of my chapter members,” she said, noting that she serves as chapter president for the USDA Food and Nutrition Services Northeast Regional Office in Boston. “I have a duty and a right to do so under the federal labor management statute.”

The USDA told the Post in a statement that furloughed employees are not permitted to speak on behalf of the department or perform official duties during a shutdown — including the time when Mei gave her Oct. 2 interview.

Mei confirmed that she is working with attorneys to challenge the move. “I want to focus on getting back to work,” she said.

The Post reported that Mei has 20 days from Wednesday, Nov. 12 — the date the government reopened — to contest her proposed termination.