Fired federal employees and their supporters gathered on Saturday, March 1, 2025, near the Christiansted National Historic Site to protest job cuts by the Department of Government Efficiency. Photo Credit: ERNICE GILBERT, V.I. CONSORTIUM.
Current and former federal employees, along with supporters gathered near Fort Christiansvaern in Christiansted to protest what they say are indiscriminate and punitive job cuts by the Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk.
Of primary concern were reductions in the workforces of agencies like the National Parks Service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, which have lost field workers with on-the-ground impact in the communities they serve. Several of the protesters were recently fired in the recent wave of federal job cuts, which reportedly eliminated 5 percent of NPS employees.
“Parks generate an order of magnitude more funding than [they] take to run,” one woman argued during the protest, a portion of which was carried live on the Consortium. The National Park Service's $3 billion annual budget contributed $55.6 billion to the U.S. Economy in 2023, according to NPS data.
Another protester pointed out that USDA employees are tasked with responsibilities as diverse as keeping animals off airport runways and managing invasive species. NOAA, through the National Weather Service, keeps the nation's weather forecasters supplied with data. The agency's annual budget, of between approximately $6 and 7 billion, is a vanishingly small fraction of the country's $7 trillion budget.
The protesters, therefore, called into question the rationale of DOGE's cuts to the federal workforce. “I don't know what they think they're doing, but they're really not saving money,” one man declared. Another protester argued that the DOGE cuts were “a massacre,” rather than “carefully crafted work to make sure that our government works better for the people.” He pointed to Elon Musk's recent brandishing of a chainsaw on the stage of the recent Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) as evidence of this reckless approach.
Locally, federally managed park sites will suffer from the reduction in an already-understaffed workforce, the protesters said, warning of a potential uptick in illegal fishing activities in protected areas as one possible consequence. The loss of federal grant funding into the territory is also being anticipated with dread. Continued National Heritage Area funding is reportedly uncertain; the territory stands to lose $2 million annually if it is terminated. “That wouldn't just support tourism, but it also provides jobs, bring new interpretive programs, [and] offer training,” a protester said. “We're gonna be missing out on all that funding,” she lamented.
Apart from the personal impact of losing jobs and livelihoods, the wider community will also suffer, protesters say. The ripple effects will be felt by restaurants, grocery stores, hotels and car rental companies, they argue. Educational opportunities for students will also likely be lost, without sufficient rangers to maintain outreach programs and host activities, protesters said.
The separated employees are participating in legal efforts to overturn their terminations, but some protesters say they wish local government officials would be more vocal in their defense. “When I see our governor in Washington, and he is working at trying to figure out ways to cozy up with the President,” one man said, “I wish he'd spend a little bit more time standing up for our community in Washington.”
Even as they buckle down for a fierce legal battle, the protesters are confident that the job cuts – and the larger DOGE agenda – will be reversed as Americans begin to see the impact on their own lives and in the lives of their family, friends and neighbors. “There's going to be a huge backlash from the people of the United States,” one man declared. “I think the people of the country are going to rebel against what Trump's doing.”
DOGE has undertaken significant measures to reduce federal spending, aiming to save the American taxpayer substantial amounts by eliminating inefficiencies. One notable initiative includes the cancellation of over 1,100 federal contracts across 39 departments and agencies, totaling approximately $8.6 billion in cuts. Additionally, Musk has expressed confidence in achieving up to $1 trillion in budget reductions this year, targeting areas such as redundant management layers, non-critical positions, and the automation of simple tasks.
Advertisements
