Some of the recently laid-off power station employees were offered their jobs back due to understaffing.
Representative Jared Huffman of California, ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee, expressed concern last week that the mass firings enacted by President Donald Trump’s administration could put the resiliency of U.S. power grids at risk.
A number of federal workers operate large power stations that manage the energy grid across multiple states. Around 130 federal workers were fired from the Bonneville Power Administration, which operates roughly 75 percent of the power grid in the Pacific Northwest. Then, discovering this left the facility understaffed, the president’s administration offered 30 jobs back to probationary workers within a week.
“They announced cuts and layoffs and then realize that some of what they’ve just done is going to cause the lights to go out for large swaths of America,” Congressman Huffman said. Despite the firings that were reversed, he continued, “It’s a disruption, even if it’s just for a few days, for mission-critical things, and it’s, I’m sure, not going to help with morale or recruitment and retention for these folks that we count on to keep the lights on.”
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For wisdom for the president, DOGE personnel, and Cabinet officials as they seek to reduce the government workforce and still keep the agencies functional.
- For members of Congress to seek solutions to the issues that face the nation, particularly the national debt and federal deficit.
Sources: The Hill, E&E News
