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He was one of tens of thousands of probationary employees fired under Trump in February, and one of about a dozen former and current employees of federal agencies who spoke to Oregon’s congressional Democrats at the town hall hosted by U.S. Sen Ron Wyden in a federal services office building.
“I am not a waste of money. My fellow employees and veterans are not a waste of money,” he told lawmakers including U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley and U.S. Reps. Suzanne Bonamici, Maxine Dexter, Val Hoyle and Andrea Salinas, as well as Attorney General Dan Rayfield, all Democrats.
“These are not normal times,” U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici said during the event. “I’ve heard about the fear and anxiety that’s in our communities right now.”
She spoke about recently meeting Dreamers — undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children — at Portland Community College and their aspirations to live the American Dream.
Rep. Suzanne Bonamici: The longest-serving member of the House delegation is bringing along a recently fired federal worker who analyzed maternal health policy in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Arielle Kane is from Oregon, Bonamici’s office said.
Bonamici will bring Arielle Kane, a maternal health policy analyst who was fired from her job at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Firing her blocks work that saves lives of mothers and babies, Bonamici said in a statement.
“I’ve said we’re always trying to find smarter, better ways to do things, but what they’re doing is neither smart nor better,” Bonamici said. "They're not really saving that much money, if at all, and they're doing it without really thought about what they're cutting."
Reps. Suzanne Bonamici, Andrea Salinas, Maxine Dexter, members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, walked out of Trump's speech in protest.
"After listening to lie after lie after lie, I just couldn't stay anymore," Bonamici said in a selfie-style video posted to Bluesky.
Bonamici said the Democrats were working hard, but emphasized that Republicans hold the power in the House of Representatives and lawmakers don’t have standing to sue the administration. A person in the audience shouted a response.“If they break the rules, you break the rules,” they said, sparking applause.
She answered, “I’m gonna do everything I can to fight that, to any test of Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare.”