Many probationary employees of the federal government in Alaska got news late last week that they’ve been fired, and others are bracing for an email they’re sure is coming. It’s part of an effort by President Trump and his appointed efficiency czar, Elon Musk, to shrink the federal workforce, save money and root out what they say is an unaccountable bureaucracy.
Alaska Public Media Washington correspondent Liz Ruskin reached out to some federal workers and talked to Alaska News Nightly host Casey Grove about what she heard from them.
Liz Ruskin: I’ve talked to a dozen or so Alaskans affected by the mass firings or the freeze on other federal spending that has left them in limbo.
I spoke to a woman in Fairbanks who said she always wanted a job that felt meaningful to her, and she found it in federal service because she was helping people. She worked seasonal federal jobs for years to get her foot in the door at her favorite agency. She finally landed a year-round job, less than a year ago.
She didn’t want us to use her name because her situation is precarious. And we’re not naming her agency. But she said that in federal service she could connect people to their place and their community, and help them navigate to available resources.
“I was really excited for this job," she said. "It was one that I could have held on to for, I think, a majority of my career, because it had a really great career set progression. It's just something that I had a lot of pride in, because I always thought being a public servant was one of the best things that you could do.”
Casey Grove: How did she get word that she was out of a job?
LR: She’d been checking her email with apprehension. She made it through the work day Thursday so she thought maybe she was safe. But at 5:30 that evening, so after hours, she got an email from an official she’d never heard of telling her she was out of a job, effective immediately.
But that’s just one example of a story that’s being played out across Alaska.
Let me tell you about another federal employee who, last I checked, was still waiting for the dreaded email. Kaija Klauder didn’t mind using her name. She’s a wildlife biologist at Denali National Park.
“This is my 10th year in Denali," Klauder said. "You know, working different kinds of positions throughout that time, but it's the place that I've made my home. It's where I have my community, my partner.”
So despite her long work experience for the Park Service, she’s a probationary employee, and I heard from others like this. Some of the probationary workers were long-time employees who were recently promoted, but they’re vulnerable to this mass firing because they're new in this particular post.
CG: What exactly does this wildlife biologist do?
LR: She’s the lead technician on a study of wolves and caribou that began in 1986, so long before her. And she’s proud of her work. As she puts it, she helps steward one of the longest-running large mammal data sets in the world.
I spoke to her as she was driving to the Anchorage airport for a pre-planned vacation, which she says she never would have taken if she knew what was coming. And Casey, before she left, she said she stayed late at work on her computer to make sure that all of her data are available to other scientists, in case she’s fired and can never log on again.
“It was a mad, sad scramble trying to figure out: OK, if this is it, if this is really it, what do I need to do to make sure that this work that I'm super passionate about can continue, you know, without having these sort of things be erased or locked away,” Klauder said.
CG: OK, let me play devil’s advocate here: The government is running huge deficits. It has to cut somewhere. Why should the taxpayers pay for this science research?
LR: You know, the answer, her answer, is, well, Denali National Park is a national asset. It draws visitors from around the world to Alaska, and to the Interior, where they spend money that adds fuel to the regional economy. And the highlight of any visit is the opportunity to see wildlife. Her data supports research that helps ensure those populations remain with us.
CG: So she’s expecting she’ll be laid off but doesn’t know. What other kinds of federal workers did you talk to?
LR: I talked to a civil servant with what sounded like a pretty bureaucratic title. But her voice broke as she explained how her work literally saves lives and property. She was laid off by email last week. And I spoke to people whose jobs rely on grant funding that’s frozen. Some said their contacts at the agencies aren’t responding, or don’t have any information. I talked to the wife of a federal employee who’s not quitting, but his department is thinning out. He’s got a lot more work to do than before, he’s stressed out and his wife says she’s worried he’s going to have a heart attack.
CG: Jeez. Well, Do we know how many federal jobs Alaska is losing in all of this?
LR: We don’t yet. There are estimates of 1,200 or so federal workers on probation, but not all of them have gotten the email. Sen. Lisa Murkowski spoke Friday about dozens of Alaskans fired, and maybe over a hundred. But she said she hasn’t gotten solid answers, either.
CG: Was she critical of the job losses?
LR: Yes, she said she shares the goal of reducing the size of federal government, but she said this is indiscriminate, inefficient and harmful, to the workers themselves, and to those who expect functioning National Parks and other government offices.
CG: And what about the other two Republicans representing Alaska in Congress?
Sen. Dan Sullivan has praised President Trump on social media for several things but hasn’t mentioned the firing of probationary employees, from what I saw. And that’s the same for Congressman Nick Begich.
