'McCarthy era 2.0': Lawmaker describes Trump’s 'very chilling' threats to federal workers

Early Thursday morning, February 6, MSNBC's website published an op-ed by Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Virginia) — the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee and a scathing critic of President Donald Trump's efforts to implement the Project 2025 agenda and purge the United States' federal government of non-loyalists.

Connolly wrote: "This is a shock and awe playbook. Trump and his acolytes are flooding the zone with one outrageous plan after another in the hopes we will balk at the sheer size and scope of their efforts. But we will not relent now. This is the time for all of us who have chosen federal service to fight back. We cannot let these attacks on our democracy go unchallenged."

The Virginia Democrat is urging federal government workers to decline the buyout being promoted by the Trump administration and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Tesla/ SpaceX CEO and X.com owner Elon Musk. Connolly discussed the buyout during a late morning appearance on MSNBC.

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MSNBC host Ana Cabrera, noting that Connolly's North Virginia district is "home to many federal employees," asked him "what kind of stories" he was "hearing."

The House Oversight Committee ranking member responded: "The stories are myriad. I mean, really in the scores now. And federal employees, I think, have gone from shock and dismay to now anger and determination: Hey, we're citizens too. We're doing a job. And we're not going to be punished for doing our jobs."

Connolly stressed that federal workers are being asked questions that are intrusive and way out of line.

The Democratic congressman told Cabrera: "We're hearing stories about intrusion in computer programing, an interruption in payments to vendors — in terms of loyalty oaths being asked for. Intrusion of personal information, like, how did you vote? Who did you support?"

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Connolly continued, "This is very chilling. It really is sort of like the McCarthy era 2.0 for a lot of federal employees and for all of us as well ... But they're standing up, and they're being heard. And I think that's a hopeful sign that, you know, Elon Musk and Donald Trump aren't going to, with impunity, simply have their way with the federal workforce and federal employees."

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Read Rep. Gerry Connolly's MSNBC op-ed here and watch the MSNBC video below or at this link.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com