We Need Courageous Tracey Therits

The Tracey Therits of the world need to do the right thing. Therit is the Chief Human Capital Officer at Veteran's Affairs. She signed an order provided for her that fired over one thousand probationary workers at the VA based on their performance. Therit did not actually review the performances of these workers; she was merely carrying out an illegal order by the Office of Personnel Management, which did not have the authority to make such an order. OPM is indirectly run by Elon Musk.

When taken to court, OPM blamed Therit, claiming that each agency was responsible for their own firings. Therit would surely argue that she was just carrying out orders. She probably feels like she's damned if she does and damned if she doesn't.

People like Tracey Therit need to stand up and not carry out orders that they know are wrong. Firing those workers without actually assessing their performances was flatly wrong. In doing so, Therit contributed to the terrorizing of the federal workforce, the destabilizing of our country, and the shift one step closer to a political bureaucracy which will make winning elections a dire prospect for each side.

Tests of courage aren't limited to firings. Federal workers need to rid themselves of the fiction that if they do everything right, they will be spared. This administration will fire them over nothing if they can. It's paramount to stand up and do the job, ignoring the administration's noise.

It's also important to understand that the administration isn't playing chess. They've fired numerous essential workers that they've had to scramble to hire back. Musk and his minions don't actually know what they're doing. They're not secret spies; they just want to appear that way. It's time to stand up to them and ignore their illegal orders.