1. United States
2. Maine
3. Letter

I am deeply concerned about the illegal dismantling of our federal workforce. Right now, an entire federal agency, U.S. Agency for International Development, is being dismantled illegally without any Congressional authority. The work of USAID strengthens the security of our country and our foreign relations through soft diplomacy and goodwill worldwide. During this purge, USAID public servants have been experiencing forms of workplace trauma and terror; today, thousands of staff at USAID have been wrongfully terminated or placed on leave without notice or cause. The Trump administration is now targeting USAID in a political smear campaign of dis-information used as a smokescreen to divert attention away from this administration’s illegal and unconstitutional acts. Leading this effort is DOGE and Elon Musk, who is not an elected official. The gross overreach of power of DOGE and this presidential administration overall is alarming. I am very concerned about Musk, his counterparts and the access to sensitive personal data belonging to hundreds of millions of Americans, DOGE via Musk has unrestricted access to our internal federal payment system that disperses trillions of dollars each year, including Social Security and Medicare benefits and federal grants and contracts. These systems have purposefully never been controlled by political actors, but it is DOGE’s opinion that these systems should now be overseen by political appointees. This means that the financial support that almost all Americans depend on in some way could be turned on or off based on political loyalty. Musk has never been vetted and does not hold a U.S. security clearance. He has expansive conflicts of interest. I am deeply concerned that the demise of USAID is just the beginning of a large-scale dismantling and politicization of our federal institutions. This administration has made comments that our federal workforce should only consist of political loyalists. Kashyap Patel, FBI director nominee, has made alarming statements suggesting he will use the resources of the FBI against political opponents of the President and has promised retribution against individuals following lawful orders carrying out investigations of assaults on police officers during January 6, 2021. I urge you as my Congressional representative to recognize this as a constitutional crisis. I am SO afraid that our government is going to to fall apart. We need to uphold our laws and prevent further destruction of our country’s government institutions, systems, and democratic governance that keeps Americans safe. What we have seen with the dismantling of USAID could be just the tip of the spear -- if the current administration can get rid of an entire agency, infiltrate the Treasury, and take over the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), just to name a few -- all without Congressional approval and in a mere two weeks in office -- what else will they do?