California state workers sympathize with federal counterparts amid Trump’s firings

Over the past several months, California state workers have watched as their federal counterparts have come under extraordinary pressure from President Donald Trump and his administration.

Trump and his allies have laid off thousands of federal employees across various departments after criticizing public servants as unproductive and wasteful. The stress of losing jobs, or watching coworkers lose theirs, has harmed the mental health of federal workers.

California public servants recognize the hostility being directed toward federal workers and say their federal colleagues are being publicly threatened and unfairly scapegoated by the new federal government.

“People don’t really have a true understanding of how public sector workers keep most of America running,” said Krystal Coles, a housing representative II with the Department of Housing and Community Development.

Coles said recently she’s heard a lot of misinformation that falsely characterizes public employees as wasteful. She, like most others who work in the public sector, acknowledges there is waste in government, but she said terminating government workers isn’t the right way to eliminate it.

“They’re a real, true service to the community and they’re usually just like unsung heroes,” Coles said of public employees.

California state workers who have been watching the chaos unfold understand that public servants at the federal level don’t choose to work in government for the overly generous salaries.

Cecelia Wilson, an information technology associate with the Department of Education, who has been with the state for over 35 years, said public sector workers are drawn to serving the public and the security of government jobs. That security has been put in question as of late.

“When you see this stuff with the federal workers, with the elected officials just taking that all away, that’s upsetting,” Wilson said.

Wilson feels for federal employees who might not know if their jobs are on the chopping block.

“The work we do is critical. Period,” said Wilson. “Federal, state, county, city, all of it is critical to everyone.”

Jack Citrin, a professor of political science at the University of California, Berkeley, said Trump and his ally Elon Musk’s methods are “raising hackles” among the federal workforce. He said the firing of federal employees also could have negative impacts to services the public has come to rely on.

Since the country’s inception, Americans have been suspicious of authority and cynical about politicians, Citrin said. Most of that cynicism has been directed toward politicians, he said, but similar skepticism has been directed at regular employees deemed to be “bureaucrats.”

As a result, Trump and Musk’s actions regarding federal employees have been viewed positively by some.

But that favorable view may not last forever.

“Once people start to feel pain or delay or unavailability, they will be unhappy about that,” he said.