After moving across the country to New Jersey, Lisa Brouellette was among the thousands who’ve been terminated in the first month of President Trump’s term, as part of the mass firings being ordered by the so-called DOGE, Department of Government Efficiency.
Brouellette worked as a biologist with the New Jersey Ecological Services Field Office for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, ensuring that development in New Jersey complies with the federal Endangered Species Act. A second fired employee from New Jersey — who asked to remain anonymous — worked with the National Institutes of Health, researching the health impacts of natural and man-made disasters.
Both were hired in September as probationary workers, a standard practice where federal employees work for one year before becoming a permanent worker, pending a positive review. Instead, they received similar termination letters on Feb. 14.
“That I am unfit for continued employment because my ability, knowledge and skill do not fit the agency’s current needs,” said the anonymous former federal employee. “The letter that I was sent was completely rebuffed by my supervisor, indicating that I was outstanding.
“It’s beyond devastating for myself and my career and everything I’ve worked for in terms of being able to serve the American people. There was no due process, there was no transparency. They’re indiscriminate firings. They’re not based on job performance. They’re not based on how your expertise fit into the institute, contrary to what was mentioned in the letter.”
Brouellette said she received similar language in a termination notice, in spite of a positive review from her boss, who intentionally sped up her six-month review.
“He actually started to get worried as we started hearing things on the news,” said Brouelette. “He said let’s make sure we get a review for you on paper. And he submitted a glowing review for me. It’s pretty clear that no one at the Department of the Interior evaluated over 400 probationary employees’ performance and their skills before notifying each of the agencies that they were to terminate.”
In total, more than 200,000 federal workers have been fired since Elon Musk and DOGE began mass layoffs. Musk, the world’s richest man with extensive federal contracts, runs the unofficial government agency in charge of reducing government spending. Most of the fired employees are probationary employees, but the NIH employee interviewed said that permanent employees at NIH, and at the National Science Foundation, were also fired, only to later learn their status had been retroactively changed back to probationary employee without their knowledge or their direct supervisors’ knowledge.
Brouellette offered this word of caution to DOGE: “Not to so easily toss away the resources that they have within the federal workforce. They’re all well-qualified, experienced biologists, and there’s definitely fear that there just won’t be enough jobs to go around for everyone.”
“Scientific expertise will be leaving the United States, undoubtedly going to other countries,” added the anonymous former employee. “And once that happens, it’ll take decades if not a generation or more to recoup that scientific expertise — while the rest of the world, I will add, will be furthering their own. And so it will put the U.S. government from a scientific standpoint so far behind that I don’t know if we’ll be able to catch up in my lifetime.”
Both said they are considering the appeals process, which is available to anyone who believes they’ve been wrongfully fired, although their status as a probationary employee makes that a long shot. They are also considering possible legal action.
