Ellen Mei, a MA-07 Constituent & USDA Employee, was Fired by Admin After Media Interview Warning of Looming Hunger Crisis

Pressley, Markey Sent a Letter on Ellen’s Behalf Earlier Today

Video (YouTube)

BOSTON – Today, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) rallied in defense of her constituent Ellen Mei—a union leader and career public servant at USDA who has helped to administer food assistance—who was unlawfully terminated after warning the public of the administration’s cuts to SNAP and staff layoffs that would jeopardize access to food for millions.

Earlier today, Rep. Pressley and Senator Ed Markey sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins demanding Ellen’s reinstatement.

A transcript of the Congresswoman’s remarks is available below and the video is available here.

Transcript: Rep. Pressley Rallies With Constituent & Federal Worker Unlawfully Fired for Exercising Free Speech

November 14, 2025

Boston, MA

Alright, go us. Go movement.

E pluribus unum, out of many we are one, and we are one movement in the fight for humanity and in the fight for justice.

It is no wonder the Trump Administration has kept Boston on its mind and Massachusetts in its sight line.

They claim that they are about freedom, yet they attack the free press, they attack free speech, they attack our bodily autonomy, they attack our ability to read whatever books that we want.

But in Massachusetts, we are in contradiction to everything that they are for, because we are pro-humanity, and we are pro-science, and we are pro-public health, and we are pro-innovation, and we are pro-freedom, and we are pro-humanity.

Very apropos that when the young man who was exercising his freedom of speech was speaking at us and Senator Markey said, “We will not be bullied.”

This Administration has proven that the occupant in the Oval Office is a dictator, and the only way to beat a dictator is with defiance.

And that is why we are standing here in solidarity in this moment, because history has shown us that appeasement doesn’t work.

And the only thing I would say about the young man is that he was saying, “Have any SNAP recipients thanked taxpayers?”

Have you thanked any of the SNAP recipients?

Because they are the working men and women of this country.

They are the elderly who’ve worked their entire lives to make this the country that it is living on fixed incomes and because people have prioritized profit over people that they are having to make choices between their rent and food—they need that $6 a day.

The question is, have you thanked a disabled person, a working man and woman, a family that’s making contributions in community each and every single day?

Struggle does not discriminate, and hardship is not a character flaw.

And you can ask anybody that from Massachusetts to Mississippi, so sir, when you ask the question, have you thanked taxpayers if you are a SNAP recipient, you should thank those hard working families, because the people on SNAP are the working poor of this country, because of all the systemic and policy change that we need to make but have yet to do.

I just had to say that.

But back to why we’re here.

Sorry, I just could not let that go, because he’s grossly misinformed.

Look Ellen, thank you for bringing us here.

Ellen and Lane, like every federal worker that we have stood shoulder to shoulder with since DOGE—Dangerous Oligarchs Grab at Everything—took a mallet to the federal workforce, disrupting the livelihoods and lives of thousands and also disrupting the lives of the people and communities that those dedicated federal workers serve.

It has been my experience that every federal worker that has had their life disrupted has cared most about the work that would go unfinished, undone, more than they have cared about their own livelihood and life.

And Ellen and Lane and everyone else, you prove that.

Ellen, you put your livelihood on the line.

You risked a job that you were damn good at.

You put a target on your back by standing up, not only for yourself and your colleagues, but for the American people, because she took an oath to serve.

But as her Congresswoman, as her brothers and sisters in the labor movement, as her partners in pursuit of food justice for all, as humans with a shred of decency and conscience, we are here to say that while you might be willing to make the sacrifice, Ellen, we will not allow you to be a martyr.

We will not keep our heads down and hope the worst of this administration’s hurt and harm falls on someone else, and we will not be cowed by these threats.

Again, the only way to beat a dictator is with defiance.

We will listen to the canaries in the coalmine.

Ellen and her colleagues at FNS, our immigrant neighbors who fear mass agents at their schools, courts, places of worship, and the more than 300,000 Black women who have been pushed out of the workforce and disproportionately impacted by systemic attacks on our federal workers.

We will stand in solidarity with Ellen.

E pluribus unum, out of many we are one.

Because she is standing at this podium in solidarity with her fellow union siblings.

It is devastating what is to happen, but certainly not surprising in this Trump culture of political retribution and vengeance and sham investigations.

The families Trump uses as pawns during the shutdown, and all of us who dare to dream of a government that is responsive to what the people need.

That’s why we’re here. That is why we’re here.

I just wish we had a President and a cabinet that is committed to the mission of their agencies as the workers they so fervently try to purge.

But they need us to believe, they want us to think, they want a citizenry that is ignorant and uninformed, that is indifferent to the suffering of its neighbors, that is inactive.

And every time we push back, we reject their dark vision for this country as an inevitability.

They keep underestimating us.

They weren’t counting on someone like Ellen, who knows that true strength lies in our collective power, and is willing to be a lightning rod in the name of justice, of fairness.

Ellen is ready for this fight, but that’s never really been a question since I met her at our first shutdown roundtable back in October.

This morning, because I want to leverage every tool available in this moment in defense of Ellen and all our federal workers.

I wrote to Secretary Rollins demanding Ellen’s immediate reinstatement.

Thank you, Senator Markey, for joining me in that.

It is truly shameful that while communities scramble to mitigate Trump’s attempts to deny families their SNAP benefits despite court orders, Trump and the USDA were working around the clock to stifle Ellen’s voice and dissuade others from standing up and speaking out.

I mean, listen, I get it. Elections have consequences. They have the majority. They have the House, the Senate, and the White House.

But my God, who uses a majority to exact and enact harm on people?

Instead of using the power of a majority to keep families whole, to keep people healthy, to keep us safe, to uplift communities, to advance progress.

Instead, in the name of so-called efficiency, they have made people poorer, hungrier, sicker, and less safe.

They daily speak with a mouthful of scriptures, have the nerve to invoke God when they walk with a heart full of hate.

But I am so over wondering, how low can they go?

Instead, I can only ask, how hard can we fight?

And we are here today, we are digging deep fighting for Ellen and dedicated federal workers like her, who took an oath to serve, to give back to our communities daily, to literally feed our neighbors.

I’m grateful to everyone assembled here today and proud to join the launch of the FNS defense campaign to fight back.

And as always, remember, the people united will never be defeated.

The people united will never be defeated. The people united will never be defeated.

Ellen, we got your back, sister.

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Ms. Mei is one of the hundreds of thousands of federal workers impacted by Donald Trump’s unlawful firing frenzy since he entered office and recently received a Notice of Proposed Removal (NOPR) after participating in a media interview in her personal capacity. The NOPR came during Trump and Republicans’ government shutdown, in which they weaponized critical food security programs, refused to fund SNAP, and let families go hungry.

During Republicans’ government shutdown, press outlets nationwide interviewed impacted constituencies, including federal employees, to inform the American public of their lived experiences under the shutdown. On October 2nd, Ms. Mei exercised her right to free speech to share her experience as a federal worker during a nationally televised interview. The next day, October 3rd, Ms. Mei received a Notice of Proposed Removal (NOPR) that noted the interview as cause for her removal from her position – a direct violation of her First Amendment right to freedom of speech.

Text of Rep. Pressley’s and Senator Markey’s letter is available here.

Congresswoman Pressley, an outspoken champion for workers and organized labor, has led efforts in Congress to halt terminations and protect federal workers. In February, Rep. Pressley led 85 lawmakers in writing to the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) urging OSC to ensure all unfairly fired civil servants are immediately rehired and protected from greater abuse, and she has applauded numerous court rulings mandating their reinstatement. In March, Rep. Pressley led her Massachusetts colleagues demanding answers about the impact of the Musk-Trump Administration’s mass firings of federal workers in Massachusetts. Rep. Pressley was also proud to welcome Claire Bergstresser, an Everett constituent, dedicated public servant, AFGE union member, and terminated HUD worker as her guest to the presidential joint address to Congress.

Amid the Republican-manufactured government shutdown, Rep. Pressley has continued to fight to defend healthcare, reopen the government, and protect federal workers and the essential services they provide.

• Rep. Pressley slammed Republicans for harming families across America by shutting down the government, unlawfully cutting food assistance, and jacking up healthcare costs. Congresswoman Pressley also questioned witnesses about the harmful, misleading stereotypes pushed by Republicans about who relies on federal programs like the Affordable Care Act, SNAP, and Medicaid.
• Rep. Pressley held an emergency convening and press conference with SNAP-dependent food retailers to make plain how the Trump-Republican shutdown and ongoing uncertainty over November SNAP benefits is harming Massachusetts families and our local economy.
• Rep. Pressley and the Democratic Women’s Caucus (DWC) convened to demand Donald Trump fund SNAP, with the authority and money he has readily available, to keep 42 million people in America fed—63% of whom are women and over 1 million of whom reside in Massachusetts.
• Rep. Pressley joined Reps. Jahana Hayes, Angie Craig, and 211 House Democrats on a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to urge the agency to use contingency reserve dollars to fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) during the government shutdown. 
• Rep. Pressley joined Senator Ed Markey and leaders from Massachusetts food banks to sound the alarm on the growing crisis of food insecurity under the Republican government shutdown and its impact on Massachusetts families.
• Rep. Pressley urged National Grid and Eversource to issue an immediate moratorium on utility shutoffs for households impacted by the government shutdown, including federal workers, federal contractors, and the people who depend on them.
  • Following the Congresswoman’s letter, National Grid of Massachusetts announced specific support and a payment plan opportunity for federal employees, contractors, and active military personnel in Massachusetts who are impacted by the government shutdown and concerned about paying their energy bill.
• Rep. Pressley participated in a House Steering and Policy Committee hearing in which she slammed Republicans for raising healthcare costs for families across the country and shutting down the government instead of addressing the healthcare crisis they created.
• Rep. Pressley joined her colleagues on the Democratic Women’s Caucus to call attention to the impacts of the Republican-manufactured health care crisis and government shutdown on women, families, and workers in the Massachusetts 7^th and across the country.
• Rep. Pressley issued a statement condemning Republicans after they chose to shut down the government rather than work with Democrats to protect families and save healthcare for millions.
• Just days into the government shutdown, Rep. Pressley held an emergency convening in Boston to highlight the harm of the shutdown to MA-07 constituents – federal workers, patients, advocates, and more.
• Amid government shutdown, Rep. Pressley and Senator Tina Smith reintroduced bill to provide back pay for federal contract workers, including low-wage food service and janitorial staff.
• Just hours before the Republicans shut down the government, Rep. Pressley rallied with advocates, colleagues, and impacted folks to demand Republicans protect healthcare and keep the government open
• Congresswoman Pressley stood in solidarity with workers and families who would be impacted by the government shutdown.
• Rep. Pressley also joined an all-day event with House Democrats to hold the line against Trump and Republicans’ efforts to rip away healthcare from millions of Americans.

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