Albany, NY – On Wednesday, Assemblymember Grace Lee invited terminated federal employees, impacted by President Trump and Elon Musk’s DOGE cuts, for a federal worker day of action at the State Capitol. The event shined a light on the human cost of these politically driven layoffs, which have targeted scientists, public health workers, and civil servants across the country and in New York.

President Trump, Elon Musk, and the Majority in Congress have slashed government agencies, making sweeping cuts to essential programs. These mass terminations, a cornerstone of Trump’s 2025 economic agenda, have cut more than 200,000 jobs across the United States – and put essential government functions at risk. Importantly, these sweeping cuts are unconstitutional as funding passed by Congress cannot be erased by presidential whim.

“Trump and Musk are inhumanely and cruelly slashing essential federal jobs, causing massive uncertainty and instability,” said Assemblymember Grace Lee. “I’m proud to stand with terminated federal employees across New York who do essential work to protect our health, our money, our veterans, our farmers, and all New Yorkers. We won’t allow the president to vilify the public servants who dedicate their lives to improving our communities. Trump and Musk’s agenda is not about reform – it’s about dismantling the institutions that protect and serve Americans.”

Among those affected are scientists like Dr. Kelsey Hopland and Dr. Lauren Komer, who were leading Alzheimer’s research benefiting more than 426,000 New Yorkers living with the disease. That work has now been suspended.

“When DOGE and Trump fired me on a Saturday, my termination notice stated it was due to poor performance. This was shortly after receiving an award from my supervisor for excellent performance!” said Dr. Lauren Komer, terminated employee with the National Institute of Aging. “I was two weeks from no longer being a probationary employee. With ongoing court cases I have since been returned to administrative leave where I’m getting paid but literally not allowed to work. How is that efficient? Federal workers are not faceless bureaucrats, we’re people who’ve dedicated ourselves to helping others.”

“The work I did with the National Institute of Aging was to justify current and future spending on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, and communicate to Congress and the public that we were meeting our research goals working to address Alzheimer’s, a disease that affects almost 500,000 New Yorkers,” said Dr. Kelsey Hopland, terminated health science policy analyst with the National Institute of Aging. “Getting inhumanely fired on short notice threw my life and housing security into chaos, and the haphazard funding cuts make us less fiscally efficient and sets back years of research on Alzheimer’s disease.”

These former federal employees discussed the importance of federal health agencies in researching, preventing, and tracking diseases. Dr. Hopland and Dr. Komer shared personal anecdotes about the chaos, inhumanity, and cruelty of being fired due to President Trump and Elon Musk’s DOGE cuts. These cuts will inevitably lead to public health emergencies and set back medical research by decades.

Also present was Dr. Nina Schwalbe, CEO and founder of Spark Street Advisors, a global public health think tank based in New York City. Dr. Schwalbe previously led USAID’s COVID-19 Vaccine Access and Delivery Initiative and worked closely with both the City and State of New York during the pandemic. “USAID, the CDC, and the other federal agencies do work that protects the lives of New Yorkers,” said Dr. Schwalbe. “Just as we’re seeing the rise of highly infectious diseases, including measles and H5N1 [bird flu], Donald Trump and Elon Musk have unconstitutionally slashed funding for these agencies. Trump and Musk have put millions of lives at risk.”

A diverse group of legislators from New York City, Long Island, and upstate New York were present, including Assemblymembers Rebecca Seawright, Alex Bores, Christopher Eachus, Harvey Epstein, Anna Kelles, Rebecca Kassay, Gabriella Romero, Chris Burdick, Tony Simone, Micah Lasher, Claire Valdez. Assemblymembers discussed how federal workers and everyday New Yorkers across the state are being impacted by DOGE cuts, including across various federal agencies located in New York, such as NIH, IRS, USAID and VA.

“I am proud to stand with my constituent Dr. Kelsey Hopland and other impacted federal workers against draconian and indiscriminate cuts of thousands of federal employees,” said Assemblymember Rebecca Seawright. “These jobs are saving the lives of everyday Americans, and in her case, at the National Institute of Health for those living with Alzheimer’s and other dementias. I stand with my colleagues in commending Assembly Member Grace Lee for organizing our federal worker day of action at the State Capitol.”

“Trump and Musk’s cuts are causing real, lasting harm. New Yorkers are feeling the pain – from veterans losing care, to researchers losing labs mid-trial, to families losing hope for an Alzheimer’s cure,” said Assemblymember Alex Bores. “Government should make life safer and healthier, but these cuts are making that impossible. If Trump and Musk are looking for waste, fraud, and abuse to cut from the federal government, they should start with DOGE.”

“Today we are standing together against the Trump administration's harmful cut of 200,000 workers from the federal government workforce,” said Assemblymember Harvey Epstein. “These aren’t just numbers, they’re people who have dedicated their life to public service. But they’re not stopping here. They are now proposing a cut of 80,000 Veterans Administration workers, one-third of which are veterans themselves. This would result in uncertainty and worse health outcomes for our veterans. We must stop these cuts.”

“I represent a district that voted heavily for President Trump, but no one in my district voted for billionaire Elon Musk,” said Assemblymember Christopher W. Eachus, 99th District. “No one voted for cuts to medical research, attacks on social security, or layoffs at VA hospitals. The administration is working hand in hand with the ultra-rich to spread chaos and raze government agencies - and New Yorkers, who pay billions more into the federal government than we receive, are footing the bill. DOGE is bad for the economy, bad for medicine, bad for veterans, and bad for you.”

“Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s sweeping DOGE cuts and the termination of over 200,000 federal workers show their determination to destroy critical institutions of government and impose great pain on dedicated public servants,” said Assemblymember Micah Lasher, who has introduced the BRIDGE Act, legislation to enable laid off federal employees to purchase state pension credit for their time in federal government. “We want and welcome the talent and expertise of laid off federal employees here in New York, and we will do everything we can to step in to protect New Yorkers where important federal work is being shut down. I am grateful to Assemblymember Lee for rallying us together to speak in one voice about the importance of maintaining a public sector that looks out for people.”

“Trump, Musk, and DOGE claim to be making the government more efficient by reducing waste, fraud, and abuse. They have done none of this and instead have made the government less efficient, said Assemblymember Tony Simone. This was the plan all along. Trump is following the autocrats playbook. He ran on the premise that the government doesn’t work. By making the government worse he consolidates his power at the expense of social services, critical scientific research, and so much more. His goal is not to improve government or even to simply destroy it. His goal is to wield government as a tool to attack those who he hates and enrich his oligarch friends.”

"DOGE cuts, which have been led by a man who was never elected to any office, have devastated communities across our state," said Assemblymember Gabriella A. Romero (D,WF- Albany, Guilderland, New Scotland). "The Trump administration has repeatedly slashed funding for critical programs and cut hundreds of thousands of jobs in the process. These cuts are hurting families, they’re devastating health care and science, and they’re jeopardizing the lives and livelihoods of thousands of people. We can’t stand by while fascists decimate our government and destroy the progress of generations."

Assemblymember Rebecca Kassay, who represents parts of Suffolk County, spoke about cuts to the Northport VA and the Holtsville IRS. Speaking to the reduction of employees at the IRS, she asserted, "These job and service cuts are penny-wise and pound-foolish. Government spending is an investment, and while sometimes the cost of not funding programs and staff is difficult to calculate – for instance, what is saved by preventing the spread of disease – some returns are clear. For every dollar invested in the IRS, the federal government collects an average of $7. It begs the question: why would an administration who claims to be so fiscally responsible reduce the capacity of a revenue-producing agency?"