Fired Federal Workers Cling to Hope That They’ll Get Their Old Jobs Back

“What’s right is going to prevail here, I’m still holding on to that hope,” one recently fired National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration worker told NOTUS.

National Treasury Employees Union rally

“There’s a huge concern among us that even if we get reinstated, we’ll be terminated again,” one worker said. Francis Chung/POLITICO/AP

Laid-off federal workers are holding out hope that either the courts or a stagnate Congress will get them their jobs back — and trying to avoid the increasingly crowded job market if they can.

Dozens of former federal workers gathered at a Senate office building Tuesday for what they called a “job fair.” But workers who spoke to NOTUS said they haven’t been looking for new jobs yet.

“This happened about a week-and-a-half ago, I haven’t really been able to wrap my mind about it,” Hendrick Simoes, a veteran and former National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration employee who was laid off in the mass firing of probationary workers, told NOTUS.