‘What are you doing?’ Fired federal worker responds to GOP senator who called him a ‘clown’

Former US Department of Health and Human Services employee Mack Schroeder got his chance to snap at Sen. Jim Banks’ (R-Ind.) support of spending cuts affecting roughly 10,000 full-time federal employees.
Schroeder, who was fired in February, confronted Banks in the halls of Congress, but found an unsympathetic ear from the Indiana senator.
“I was fired illegally … There are many people who are not getting social service programs, especially people with disabilities,” Schroeder asked as Banks entered an elevator. “Are you going to do anything to stop what’s happening?”READ MORE: ‘Parade of incompetence’ revealed with new Trump security bombshell“You probably deserved it,” Banks said.
“I deserved it?” Schroeder responded.
“You probably deserved it … because you seem like a clown,” Banks said as the elevator door closed.
The senator later released a press statement declaring, “I have no sympathy for left-wing activists who have been let go from overpaid positions that should never have existed,” and added “hardworking Hoosiers” should not waste their tax dollars “bankrolling these [government] positions.”READ MORE: ‘Freak the world out’: Pollster warns Trump tariffs will cause ‘explosion on Wall Street’
Later, on CNN, Schroeder said both Republicans and Democrats work as civil servants in the federal government, and he hardly described his questions as “clownish.”
“I really just wanted to ask [Banks] what he was doing to ensure the residents in his state are getting the services that they’re entitled to as we cut workers who are ensuring that grants are going out the door to programs,” Schroeder said. “What are you doing about the social services that are being cut specifically for people with disabilities?
Schroeder said he worked as an assistant secretary at HHS for its financial resources division, administrating community living programs for seniors and people with disabilities. He said several co-workers similarly fired from his division also worked to ensure federal grants were going to the right places, including Meals on Wheels (a program that distributes food to seniors in their homes and sometimes serves as “their only meal for the day,” according to Schroeder). Additional programs, he said, supported independent living for people with disabilities or provide heating services. All are “wiped out” now.
“There are over 150,000 people in Indiana that rely on that program, so my question to the senator is, how are those folks going to get heating in the winter if there’s no money or there are no people who are making sure those grants are going to that program?” Schroeder said, adding that he still has not heard the government’s overall plan for delivering vital government services after staff cuts and program defunding. READ MORE: ‘No going back’: Senate Republicans are reportedly ‘going nuclear’ in latest move
“Does he even know about the work I was doing? Can he really say that I was overpaid? Does he know the nature of the services that we were providing?”
Schroeder demanded senators and representatives “stand up and understand what’s affecting Americans they serve.”
“I just really want to see more senators from both sides of the aisle really taking a stand to protect the services that people are paying taxpayer dollars for. And if you’re a fired federal worker, I encourage you to join us.”Watch the video below, or by clicking this link.READ MORE: ‘Significant political rift’: Trump faces possible defeat in first tariff test

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