Both U.S. Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-8) and April McClain Delaney (D-6) will have fired federal employees as their guests at Tuesday’s Joint Address to Congress by President Donald Trump.
Dr. Lauren McGee, a cancer researcher who was terminated from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as part of the workforce reduction by the Trump Administration, is Raskin’s invitee.
Matthew Fessler, who was fired from his job as a health insurance specialist at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, is McClain Delaney’s guest.
McGee was a biologist researching pediatric and canine osteosarcoma. She was fired last month.
“After dedicating her career to public health and medical research, Dr. McGee has seen her professional passion and livelihood upended by President Trump’s sweeping attacks on public servants,” Raskin said.
“Dr. McGee’s story reminds us of the devastating consequences for all Americans when President Trump and Elon Musk indiscriminately attack public health authorities. Her unceremonious discharge hurts all the current and future patients depending on her research for medical progress,” he wrote in a news release.
McGee called her work studying how a cancer commonly found in pet dogs could be used to better understand osteosarcoma “a dream job.”
“I was so excited to finally be able to help patients and their families while also working to find treatments for man’s best friend. I hope sharing my story helps in the fight against these illegal mass firings disrupting people’s lives and hurting medical research.”
McGee had worked in the same lab as a post-doctoral fellow before her promotion to full time equivalent status. This means that while she was formally in a probationary period, she had been promoted and had worked in the same lab for more than a year. Under federal employment law, probationary employees can only be terminated based on poor performance; Dr. McGee has received superior reviews, according to Raskin.
Fessler’s job focused on measuring improper payments within the Medicare Part D Program.
According to McClain Delaney, he was responsible for finding waste, fraud and abuse but then was fired to cut waste, fraud and abuse.
Fessler took a pay cut to take this job to work with the Medicare program. As recently as January, he had received a performance rating that said he achieved outstanding results but was fired on Feb. 15 due to “inadequate performance,” according to McClain Delaney.
Trump’s Joint Address to Congress begins at 9 p.m.
