After President Donald Trump decided to fire her, a long-serving inspector general at the U.S. Department of Agriculture had to be physically escorted out of her office when she refused to leave voluntarily.
Phyllis Fong, who had worked in the department for 22 years, made it clear to her colleagues that she was not willing to step down despite the President’s directive to terminate her contract.
She expressed her disagreement with the administration’s handling of the situation in an email to her coworkers that was reviewed by Reuters over the weekend.
As a result, Fong was escorted out of the building on Monday – her final day of employment.
Fong is just one of many federal staffers reportedly in denial about Trump’s ability to terminate their roles, amid whispers of an internal revolt.
She insisted that the independent Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency had taken the same position.
‘These termination notices do not comply with the requirements set out in law and therefore are not effective at this time,’ she said.
The White House failed to publicly announce the bloodbath or provide any explanation for why it fired the officials, who are tasked with evaluating federal departments on issues including the law and use of taxpayer money.
Phyllis Fong, a 22-year veteran of the department, told colleagues she intended to stay on despite an edict from Trump demanding her contract be terminated
A veteran inspector general of the U.S. Department of Agriculture had to be escorted out of her office after refusing to accept President Donald Trump ‘s decision to fire her
The move sparked concerns from Republican and Democrat lawmakers that the president may have broken a federal law requiring Congress to be given 30-day notice of such firings, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Inspector generals for the departments of defense, state, transportation, veterans affairs, housing and urban development, interior, and energy were all let go.
The White House defended her termination and the other inspectors general, saying ‘these rogue, partisan bureaucrats… have been relieved of their duties in order to make room for qualified individuals who will uphold the rule of law and protect Democracy.’
In her role, she has had a broad mandate to pursue consumer food safety, conduct audits and investigations.
The USDA has been at the heart of concerns about bird flu, which has spread among cattle and chickens and killed a person in Louisiana.
In 2022, the inspector general’s office launched an investigation of Elon Musk’s brain implant startup Neuralink, which remains ongoing, sources said.
Musk and Trump developed a close relationship during the presidential campaign, earning the billionaire Tesla founder a role heading up the Department of Government Efficiency.
On Wednesday, Musk insinuated he played a significant role in Trump’s plan to purge the federal workforce.
In an email to colleagues on Saturday seen by Reuters, she said she didn’t believe the administration had followed proper protocols in terminating her contract
Fong was among 17 high profile federal workers fired by Trump on Friday in what critics described as a late-night purge.
Speaking to reporters afterwards aboard Air Force One, Trump defended the move saying ‘it’s a very common thing to do.’ He did not say who would be installed in the vacant posts.
It comes after the Trump administration started sending out emails to thousands of federal workers Tuesday evening offering them a ‘buyout’ to voluntarily leave their government positions but remain on the payroll for months.
The administration has called for federal workers to return to the office and plans to offer the buyouts to up to two million workers who do not want to.
The email was linked to President Donald Trump’s executive order demanding the office return.
It said the last date to accept the offer is February 6, and employees could simply send an email from their government account with the word ‘resign’ in the subject line.
An Office of Personnel Management spokesperson said employees who accept the terms were being offered the chance to go on administrative leave at full pay through September 30.
Union members and other federal employees stop in front of the White House in Washington during a rally to call for an end to the partial government shutdown, Thursday, Jan. 10, 2019
But many government workers appear ready to reject the offer and are vowing to continue working in protest.
‘They can’t fire us as easily as they thought, so they are trying to scare us into quitting, don’t fall for it,’ one staff member anonymously said.
‘We took an oath to serve our country and fellow Americans. They can drag me out,’ another added.
‘I remain a proud civil servant. I remain extremely effective, remote or otherwise.
‘I’m not going to bullied out, no matter what lies they tell about me. I’m going to stay and I’m going to continue helping and serving those who need help until I literally can’t anymore.’
