A self-styled “MAGA junkie” who was fired from her job at the Treasury Department’s Bureau of Fiscal Service by the Trump administration has said she regrets voting for the Republican presidential candidate.
Newsweek contacted the White House press office and the Bureau of Fiscal Services via email and telephone respectively, outside of regular office hours on Friday.
Why It Matters
After a triumphant return to the White House, President Donald Trump set up the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to be led by his close ally and top campaign donor Elon Musk. DOGE immediately made moves to cut government spending, and fired thousands of federal employees, including some who were still in their one-year probationary period.
However, there have been multiple reports that a number of those fired were Trump voters, meaning the issue could possibly hurt Republican chances in the 2026 midterms and again in 2028.
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What To Know
Speaking to CNN, Jennifer Piggott said she was one of 125 probationary Bureau of Fiscal Service employees fired in February for alleged poor performance, despite having received the “highest rating” available during her last review on January 31.
Asked if this made her regret voting for Trump, Piggott said: “Yes I do. To cut the knees off the working-class Americans just doesn’t make sense to me. I expected more from President Donald Trump.”
Piggott showed CNN the Trump campaign flag she had taken down from outside her house following the firing, and said she has received death threats and had her home egged since speaking out publicly.
A second fired Bureau of Fiscal Service employee, who remained anonymous and declined to show her face on camera due to safety fears, said she was also having second thoughts about having voted for Trump after losing her job.
On March 14, a preliminary injunction was issued by U.S. District Judge William Alsup requiring the Trump administration to rehire more than 17,000 probationary employees it had fired. The administration suffered a second blow this week when the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals opted not to pause Alsup’s ruling, though the case could still be take to the Supreme Court.
CNN said that the Bureau of Fiscal Service has since formally rehired the probationary employees but placed them on administrative leave.
What People Are Saying
Jennifer Piggott said that after being fired: “I cried. It’s scary you know it’s a really scary thing and I was embarrassed.”
Asked whether she would still have supported Trump had she known what would happen, the second former Bureau of Fiscal Services employee said: “I’m not sure I would have, the way it’s been done. I’m for balancing the budget, that type of thing, but not in this context it’s just not right.”
Referring to District Judge Alsup, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “A single judge is attempting to unconstitutionally seize the power of hiring and firing from the Executive Branch. The President has the authority to exercise the power of the entire executive branch—singular district court judges cannot abuse the power of the entire judiciary to thwart the President’s agenda.”
What Happens Next
The case over whether the Trump administration had the powers to fire thousands of probationary employees could now make its way to the Supreme Court.
While the High Court it has a 6-3 conservative leaning majority, with three justices appointed by Trump in his first term, it has already ruled against the administration in cases relating to its ability to fire the head of a watchdog office and freeze billions of dollars’ worth of foreign aid spending.
