Trump officials take their SNAP fight to a disturbing new level

President Donald Trump’s U.S. Department of Agriculture plans to fire a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program employee after she gave a media interview in which she expressed concern about Americans going hungry due to program disruptions.

Ellen Mei, SNAP program specialist and local union representative, appeared on MSNBC on October 2 to discuss how the government shutdown was impacting federal workers and USDA food assistance operations. He said workers administering the SNAP program were feeling “overworked and exhausted” due to the agency’s cuts and explained how funds could dry up if the shutdown was prolonged.

The Trump administration eventually began withholding food stamp benefits from states, using the prospect of food insecurity to successfully pressure Democrats to give in in the fight over funding. Millions of Americans depend on the program to buy food and feed their families.

The day after her MSNBC interview, the USDA informed Mei, who resides in Boston and was suspended at the time, that she would be fired for speaking publicly about the program’s availability without prior approval, according to correspondence reviewed by News themezone.

Mei said he was simply exercising his First Amendment rights in discussing what the shutdown could mean for the SNAP program.

“I did not leak secrets or share anything confidential,” he said in a statement through the Federal Unionist Network, a group of federal employees that counts Mei as an organizer. “I told the truth about what is happening to hungry families and the people who serve them. I swore an oath to serve the public: to not stay silent while our government turns its back on the American people.”

Mei is president of Chapter 255 of the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents food and nutrition workers within the USDA.

Elected union officials are often the only federal employees willing to speak to the media because they have been trained how to do so in accordance with federal rules. They often begin the discussion by clarifying that they are speaking in their personal capacity or as a union leader, not as a representative of their agency.

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A USDA spokesperson said the agency does not comment on individual personnel matters. “During a break in assignments, suspended USDA employees are not authorized to perform any official duties, including speaking on behalf of the Department,” the spokesperson said in an email.

Fighting for her job, Mei is likely to question whether she was speaking “on behalf of the department” or fulfilling an official duty when she spoke to MSNBC.

Her supporters began calling for Mei’s reinstatement on Friday, with a rally scheduled in Boston.

Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) called on the USDA to reverse the “retaliatory” firing and put Mei back on the job “immediately” when federal workers return after the shutdown.

“As communities struggled to mitigate Trump’s attempts to deny families their SNAP benefits despite court orders, Trump and the USDA worked around the clock to stifle Ellen’s voice and discourage others from standing up and speaking out,” Pressley said in a statement.

Pressley and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins on Friday about the matter.

The Federal Unionist Network says 18,000 USDA employees have left the agency this year since Trump began pushing out federal workers through early retirement programs and layoffs. Mei said in her interview with MSNBC that about half of her office had been laid off in April.

“What we really want to do is work to help feed people who rely on SNAP to feed their families and put food on their tables,” Mei said at the time. “We feel angry about being treated as political pawns so that billionaires can have more money while the people we serve are squeezed even further and have to worry about their benefits.”