‘MAGA junkie' fired from government job now regrets voting for Trump
Jennifer Piggott of West Virginia told CNN she was one of 125 probationary employees fired from the Treasury Department's Bureau of Fiscal Service last month as part of Trump's efforts to downsize the federal government.
Piggott is a self-described 'MAGA junkie' who voted for Trump three times — but has since lost faith in the Republican.
'I cried. It's scary, it's a really scary thing,' she said. 'I was embarrassed.'
When CNN asked if she regretted voting for the president, Piggott responded: 'Yes, I do.'
'To cut the knees off the working-class Americans just doesn't make sense to me,' she continued. 'I expected more from President Donald Trump.'
According to recent court filings, Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency has fired at least 24,000 federal probationary employees. A federal judge has ruled that DOGE fired at least 16,000 of these employees illegally, but the Trump administration is appealing the decision to the Supreme Court.
Piggott said she was fired over poor performance, despite getting the 'highest rating' on a performance review less than three weeks before she was let go. She told Reuters that other voters she knows also didn't expect this level of 'devastation.'
"Nobody that I've talked to understood the devastation that having this administration in office would do to our lives," Piggott said. "As much as I think that President Trump is doing wonderful things for the country in some regards, I don't understand this at all.'
White House spokesperson Harrison Fields defended the firings to Reuters, claiming Trump has been given a popular mandate to carry out the mass layoffs.
"The personal financial situation of every American is top of mind for the president, which is why he's working to cut regulations, reshore jobs, lower taxes, and make government more efficient," Fields said.
CNN spoke to another Bureau of Fiscal Service employee who recently retired over fears she would lose her benefits if she were fired as part of the Trump administration's downsizing efforts. The unnamed employee also voted for the president.
When CNN asked if she would have supported Trump knowing what he would do, she responded: 'I'm not sure I would have.'
'The way that it's been done — I'm for balancing the budget, that type of thing, but not in this context,' she said. 'It's just not right.'
Piggott says Trump is 'creating a disaster,' and she doesn't know 'what America is going to look like if this continues.'
'I expected that you would do what was right and cut waste and fraud and all of those things that you promised us before we elected you in office,' she told CNN. 'But you're not doing that.'
The Independent has contacted the Bureau of Fiscal Service for comment.
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