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Who Protects the Worker
For generations, career civil servants have been protected by a simple idea: the government can't fire you for political reasons, and it can't fire you without following the law. That protection wasn't an accident. It was built, deliberately, over decades, to keep public service out of the hands of politics and personal grievance. It's the reason a federal employee can raise concerns, do their job well, and serve the public without wondering whether their livelihood depends on staying quiet or staying loyal to whoever is in power.
That idea is being tested right now, in ways that will shape federal employment for years to come.
Moderator
andrew Natsios
Former Administrator, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
Opening Remarks
Jamie Raskin
U.S. Representative for Maryland's 8th Congressional District
Closing Remarks
Samantha power
Former Administrator, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
Panelists
Shaun Southworth
Chief Executive Officer, Southworth PC
Civil Rights for Civil Servants Podcast
Panelist
Kevin Byrnes
Labor and Employment Law
Panelist
Andrew Huddleston
Advocacy Director
American Federation of Government Employees
Panelist
Jameson Wells
Political Organizer
Jobs with Justice
Across the government, career employees are facing removals, restructurings, and legal gray areas that raise a basic question: when the government fires its own workers, who makes sure it follows the rules it wrote for itself? The mass separation of USAID's workforce in 2025 is one of the clearest examples of what's at stake, but it isn't an isolated case. It's a preview of what becomes possible when due process protections are treated as optional rather than foundational, and when the boards and courts meant to enforce those protections come under pressure themselves.
This conversation isn't about one agency or one administration. It's about whether the guardrails that protect public servants, and by extension the public they serve, still hold. It's about what happens to institutional knowledge, to public trust, and to the people who spent their careers showing up for their country, when those guardrails give way.
Join the USAID Employee Support Fund and the Alliance for American Leadership for a candid, nonpartisan conversation with legal experts, advocates, and people who have lived this fight directly.
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Whether you've spent your career in public service, worked alongside people who have, or simply believe that the rules protecting workers should mean something, this conversation is for you. What's decided in courtrooms and hearing rooms right now will shape how the next generation of public servants is treated, and whether "due process" is a right or a formality.
