A federal worker who was fired by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency has spoken to CNN about the moment she found out. And what's worse, she voted for Donald Trump.
The Department of Government Efficiency is taking no prisoners, and with Elon Musk heading up a team that's attempting to slash $2 trillion from government spending, we always knew that heads were going to roll.
President Donald Trump says that while he's happy with the work his 'First Buddy' and the DOGE are doing, he wants them to be 'more aggressive.’ It seems Musk has taken this in his stride, sending out a mass email that demanded staff justify their accomplishments.
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Alongside concerns that Musk's email could be illegal, a federal judge has found that the mass firing of thousands of probationary employees was likely ‘unlawful.’ That hasn't stopped legions of workers from being given the boot. Among them is Ryleigh Cooper, a former U.S. Forest Service worker who is baffled that she lost her job even though she voted for Trump.
As explained by CNN, Cooper's dreams of becoming a mother were spurred on by Trump claiming he'd make IVF free. Unfortunately for Cooper, she didn't know that her vote would come at the cost of her job.
CNN's Laura Coates spoke to Cooper and asked what it was like to learn she was being let go. Cooper admitted: "It was really hard. I was on the phone with my best friend Kelly at the time. We were just discussing her life and how things were going, and I looked at my phone, and I had gotten a text from our union rep.
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"He told me that I was going to be fired the next day, and I told her, 'I have to go, I'm getting fired tomorrow.' And my heart just sank."
When Coates discussed the idea that the American people want to see a streamlined government, and this is something Trump is delivering on, Cooper said this wasn't the reason she voted for him.
Referring to herself as a swing voter, Cooper said Trump's promise of fertility treatment was the single issue that got her vote: "I want to be a mom. Women who have gone through that experience, that heartbreaking feeling of wanting something that you might never have, they understand how much of your time is taken up with those thoughts, and how overwhelming and lonely it can feel."
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When asked if she regretted voting for Trump, Cooper solemnly said that she feels regret and has had "a lot of tumultuous thoughts about that day." Saying it's easy to get tunnel vision when you aren't given an endless amount of options, she continued: "I also had to come to terms with the fact that I was likely going to be a part of, you know, taking chances away from other groups of people, and that's never sat well with me."
Cooper says she's been getting a lot of hate mail for speaking out about both voting for Trump and her firing: "I've had people tell me that they hope I never have a child and I got exactly what I deserve.
"As much as all the terrible comments have been coming through, I've also received an immense amount of support, especially from women who have gone through IVF, who struggle with infertility."
While disappointed by her current situation, Cooper hopes it highlights the issue of infertility among women in the USA. Sadly, Trump's February 18 "Expanding Access to in Vitro Fertilization" executive order simply reduces the cost of treatment and hasn't actually made it free.