Mass confusion and uncertainty are sweeping through the federal government. Local workers fear not only for their jobs but also their benefits and retirement plans.
Clark County has about 3,700 federal workers, according to the state Employment Security Department. They monitor the region’s volcanoes, manage the power grid and work in the area’s forests.
None of their jobs are certain.
“Federal employees are unsure of what’s happening,” Dennis Lapcewich said. “Many of them are scared to death.”
Lapcewich is a vice president for the Forest Service Council of the National Federation of Federal Employees union. The council represents some 20,000 Forest Service workers nationwide.
Vancouver is home to offices not only for the U.S. Forest Service but also the Bonneville Power Administration, the IRS, U.S. Geological Survey and other federal agencies.
President Donald Trump has made clear his intentions to shrink the federal government, creating his Department of Government Efficiency run by business tycoon Elon Musk.
The day he was sworn into office, Trump signed several executive orders bringing federal workers into offices full time, instituting a governmentwide hiring freeze, temporarily prohibiting new federal rules, and scrapping diversity, equity and inclusion programs, among other changes.
But the administration is now looking to move even faster to reduce government.
Officials sent an email last week to most federal employees offering them the chance to resign and be paid through September, according to multiple media reports.
CBS News reported that the administration expected up to 10 percent of its workforce of 2 million employees to take the offer.
The administration hasn’t released any figures on how many workers have taken the offer, although Stephen Miller, Trump’s deputy chief of staff for policy, said “a significant number” have, according to CNN.
Local workers said in hushed tones that they don’t know how many of their colleagues have gone for the deferred resignation.
Federal employee unions, including the Forest Service Council, are advising against it.
The offer has no legal standing, Lapcewich said. The Forest Service Council wants members to leave the Forest Service on their own terms, he added.
Washington Attorney General Nick Brown also warned federal workers against the deferred resignation offer, calling it “misleading.”
Those who have decided to stay in their federal jobs still face uncertainty about what comes next.
Lapcewich said all of the union’s lines of communication are “burning red hot.”
Managers and supervisors have been coming to the union to find out what’s happening, he said.
Lapcewich retired from the Forest Service last month, before the Trump administration offered deferred resignation.
“Even as a retiree, I’m waiting for my retirement to kick in,” Lapcewich said.
Other employees fear their benefits could be impacted.
Statements from the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Geological Survey said their parent agencies are reviewing how to implement Trump’s executive orders as soon as possible.
The Forest Service Council said in a letter to its members that the administration is issuing directions and orders that may not be legal or constitutional.
“It will take the courts to ultimately decide many issues,” the letter said.
