Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee has joined a nationwide legal challenge against the Trump Administration's ongoing layoffs of probationary federal employees, which Menefee said "have a direct impact” on Houston-area residents.
Menefee joined nearly 50 officials from other local governments across the United States in signing an amicus brief filed in an ongoing lawsuit in California.The lawsuit, filed by the American Federation of Government Employees along with other labor rights organizations against the federal Office of Personnel Management (OPM), claims widespread layoffs are happening so "dramatically and abruptly" that public facilities can no longer run efficiently.
The Houston area, Menefee said, is far from untouched.
The Houston Federal Executive Board, a branch of the OPM, represents around 31,000 federal employees across 107 agencies in the upper Texas Gulf Coast area. Some of the agencies include the U.S. Department of Education and theU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, both of which recently said theyplan to cut their workforces by half.
The lawsuit targets thefiring of probationary federal employees– or recent hires to agencies – which federal officials have said is aimed at making the government more efficient. The probationary period can last up to two years and includes employees who were moved or promoted to new positions.
Hundreds of employees atthe Federal Emergency Management Agencyhave also been caught up in layoffs, which Menefee said is concerning for hurricane-prone Harris County.
"We rely very heavily on FEMA in this region, we are on the Gulf Coast," Menefee toldHouston Public Media. "We have seen natural disaster after natural disaster, hurricanes, floods, freezes, you name it, we’ve seen it, and FEMA has been incredibly important to ensuring that families receive the assistance that they need."
Menefee also warned that drastic cuts disrupt key federal programs serving vulnerable populations, such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security payments.
"The Trump Administration is really blowing up the federal government in a way that could be irreparable, and it sets a dangerous precedent," Menefee said. "You don’t want a new president to come in and be able to relieve that many people in the federal government. I think it’s part of President Trump’s authoritarian ambitions and it’s unfortunate."
The full scale of federal layoffs isn't yet clear. But Menefee said the repercussions are going to hurt Houston's working class the most.
"We know that these mass firings would also disproportionately harm Black, Latino and working-class Americans," he said. "So, if the Trump Administration is going to have a power grab like this, I think it's important that folks stand up to them in the courtroom."
Harris County is one of 46 local governments that signed the amicus brief.Others include the City of Austin and El Paso County.
"Houston is the energy capital of the world," Menefee said. "We have the largest petrochemical complex in the country in the Houston Ship Channel. We’re one of the major ports in the country. There’s a lot that goes on in our local economy that impacts the entire country. We need a stable federal government."
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