Elizabeth O’Neal, an IRS employee, attends a town hall held by Oregon Democratic legislators at the Federal Building in Portland, Ore., March 17, 2025. The event aimed to provide an opportunity for federal employees to talk about the impact of layoffs in the federal government.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
Current and former federal staffers joined Oregon Democrats in a town hall in Portland on Monday, saying President Donald Trump’s efforts to shrink the federal government present risks to Oregon life, potentially harming how the state responds to wildfires, preserves its natural resources and cares for veterans.
In all, more than 240 attendees packed into the cafeteria of a federal building in Northeast Portland, filling up rows of seats and standing around the edges of the room. Many focused their ire on the mass firings by Trump and his billionaire partner, Elon Musk, who leads the administration’s cost-cutting initiative called the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
Shawn McMurtrey, a disabled combat veteran who was recently fired from his job in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, speaks to legislators during a town hall in Portland, Ore., March 17, 2025.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
“This is not the America I swore an oath to protect,” said Shawn McMurtrey, a disabled combat veteran who served in the U.S. Army in Iraq and Afghanistan and was recently fired from his job in the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Monday’s was the latest in a series of packed town halls that have occurred across Oregon since Trump’s second term began less than two months ago. In that time, firings have hit regional employers like the U.S. Forest Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Bonneville Power Administration — agencies that impact Oregonians’ lives, maintaining public lands, predicting the weather and keeping residents’ lights on.
“We have a department in the federal government now that is supposed to be concerned with efficiency, and government efficiency, but from what I’ve seen it’s more of an agency of chaos,” said Craig Ackerman, the former superintendent of Crater Lake National Park, who retired in October and moderated the town hall.
Six of Oregon’s eight members of congress attended Monday’s town hall, as did Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield. Newly-elected U.S. Rep. Janelle Bynum had a previous commitment and did not attend.
In recent weeks, members of the delegation have faced pushback from town hall attendees who have accused the national Democratic party of being slow and disunified in its response to Trump’s barrage of new policies.
“I can feel the anger. I can feel the frustration,” U.S. Rep. Maxine Dexter said. “I know we are not giving answers that are satisfactory.”
Republicans like U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz, who represents much of eastern and southern Oregon, say the cuts are necessary to shrink government spending and eliminate national debt. Bentz was not invited to attend the town hall.
Oregon Democrats say the administration is cutting jobs that are critical to the lives and safety of Oregonians.
(Left to right) Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield, U.S. Rep. Maxine Dexter, U.S. Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, U.S. Reps. Val Hoyle, Andrea Salinas and Suzanne Bonamici, during a town hall held at the Federal Building in Portland, Ore., March 17, 2025. The event aimed to provide an opportunity for federal employees to talk about the impact of layoffs in the federal government.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
“It is as clear as Crater Lake that Trump and Musk and their cronies are indiscriminately attacking your ability to serve publicly and are illegally firing many of you,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, the senior member of Oregon’s congressional delegation, who emphasized the importance of federal employees blowing the whistle when they see the government acting illegally.
Among those fired was McMurtrey. As a government scientist, his job was to help prevent fungal diseases from killing pears in Oregon, the nation’s second leading producer of pears. McMurtrey said his government salary wasn’t enough to afford to live where he worked, in Hood River, forcing him to sometimes sleep in a lab or his car when he’d commute to work from Portland.
“It is partially thanks to this research that you can buy pears all year round at the grocery store,” said McMurtrey, speaking from a table at the front of the room. He added, “I am not a waste of money.”
Federal workers — some of whom remain employed — said Monday that the mass firings have upended their lives, impacting their retirements, health insurance, loan payments and their future aspirations of public service jobs. Some voiced concerns of being retaliated against for speaking publicly. Others carried signs that said “S.O.S Save Our Services” and “Stop the war on America’s workforce.”
Belle Zaccari of Portland asks pointed questions of Oregon legislators during a town hall at the Federal Building in Portland, Ore., March 17, 2025. Zaccari, a clinical psychologist who has worked more than 10 years as a clinical psychologist for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, said she has more than $300,000 in student loan debt.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
Belle Zaccari, a clinical psychologist who has worked more than 10 years as a clinical psychologist for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, said she has more than $300,000 in student loan debt. She added, “This is true for many people in this room.” She said veterans with chronic pain are not being served because of Trump’s previous executive orders.
“I came into the field of psychology to serve veterans, and I’m here. I get to actualize that dream,” Zaccari said. “And in this administration I see that threatened every single day. If I am to lose my job during this administration I don’t know that I’ll come back.”
Much of the battle over Trump’s efforts will be fought in court with Democratic attorneys general like Oregon’s Dan Rayfield, who attended Monday’s event. Rayfield has already sued the Trump administration eight times and alleged the mass firings are a result of decisions happening in “smoke-filled rooms without the public process.”
“Part of our jobs as attorneys general is to make sure the Trump administration is following the rule of law, making sure he’s following the Constitution, and when he and his billionaire friends are not, we will hold them accountable in a court of law,” Rayfield said.
