USDA Employee Fights for Job After Speaking Out on SNAP During Shutdown

A USDA employee is fighting for her job, after the Trump Administration moved to fire her for speaking out about Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits at the beginning of the government shutdown. 

Ellen Mei, a program specialist at the Food and Nutrition Service who lives in Boston, was sent a notice of proposed removal (NOPR) and placed on administrative leave when the government reopened. 

Mei, who is also president of the National Treasury Employees Union’s (NTEU) Chapter 255, gave an interview on MSNBC on October 2. She said she was speaking in her personal capacity and not on behalf of the department. In that interview, Mei spoke about how the shutdown would impact her team and the work it does, saying that SNAP funding “might get a little dicey if this drags on into November.” 

After that interview, Mei was told the process to remove her had started, and that she will be terminated 30 days after the end of the shutdown. The USDA says Mei spoke about USDA programs and funding “without prior approval.”

Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey (D) and Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (D) sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins demanding Mei’s reinstatement. 

“Ms. Mei recently participated in a media interview in her personal capacity. The NOPR is retaliation against Ms. Mei’s expression of her First Amendment right to freedom of speech,” stated the letter. 

Mei has 20 days to appeal her dismissal and is doing so. 

Among those supporting her is the Federal Unionists Network. 

“This is about sounding the alarm to the public that this administration will stop at nothing. … They will trot over the services we provide and the rights that we have as federal workers and as Americans,” said Chris Dols, co-executive director of the Federal Unionists Network.