Hickenlooper, Senate Democrats Host Veterans Fired by Trump Administration as Guests to Trump’s Joint Address

Hickenlooper invited Amelia Huffman, a U.S. Navy veteran, who was illegally fired by the Trump Administration from her role at the United States Forest Service

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper joined a group of Senate Democrats in hosting veterans who were illegally fired by the Trump administration as guests to President Trump’s Joint Address.

Hickenlooper invited Amelia Huffman, a U.S. Navy veteran who was laid off from her job in the US Forest Service (USFS) at the Arapahoe and Roosevelt National Forests and Pawnee National Grassland, as his guest. Veterans like Amelia make up 30% of the federal workforce, with 640,000 veterans working in federal agencies. The Trump administration’s mass terminations have already led to the unprecedented firing of an estimated 6,000 veterans.

A full list of the other senators’ guests can be found below:

• Blumenthal is hosting former VA Inspector General Michael Missal. Missal was first appointed to serve as the VA IG in 2015 by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate in 2016. He served throughout Trump’s first term and President Joe Biden’s administration before being unlawfully terminated by Trump along with more than a dozen other independent Inspectors General in January. Over the last eight years, under the leadership of Missal, OIG oversight identified $45 billion in savings, cost avoidance, and questionable costs. These efforts have saved taxpayer dollars, cracked down on waste, fraud, and abuse, and improved government efficiency.

• Schumer is hosting Alissa Ellman, a disabled, toxic-exposed Army veteran who was illegally and indiscriminately fired from her job at the Buffalo VA during VA Secretary Collins’ mass terminations of VA employees and veterans. Alissa worked helping fellow veterans and their families obtain their hard-earned benefits. She served in Afghanistan and was diagnosed in 2017 with a rare cancer associated with toxic burn pit exposure during her service.

• Kaine is hosting Jason King, a disabled veteran from Fairfax, Virginia who was fired from his position in the Federal Aviation Administration’s safety division.

• Coons is hosting Rory Badger, a two-tour marine combat veteran and US Department of Agriculture (USDA) employee who was illegally fired under Trump’s mass terminations. After serving his country in Afghanistan, Badger worked as a biologist for the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service office in Salisbury, Maryland until he was fired last month without notice and without cause.

• Merkely is hosting Isabella Isaksen—a U.S. Army veteran and Olympian—who recently served as the public affairs officer for Ochoco National Forest and Crooked River National Grassland in Central Oregon. Isabella Isaksen has a long history of honorably serving our nation. In 2016, she represented the United States as a modern pentathlete at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil. A year later, she became one of the first women in the U.S. Army to become a field artillery soldier, which is a combat arms specialty. After retiring from the military, she moved to Oregon to work for the USFS, where she communicated critical public health and safety information so Central Oregonians could stay safe and connected during the destructive 2024 wildfire season. Without this position, and countless others in the USFS that provide essential support to fire crews, Oregon’s public lands, industries, and communities are at great risk.

• Gallego is hosting Kyle Rahn, a disabled veteran and federal worker who was recently fired due to Elon Musk’s DOGE cuts to the federal workforce. Kyle, a North Phoenix resident, is a disabled Army veteran who served three tours in Iraq before continuing his public service as a civilian at the Department of Defense and later at the Department of Homeland Security as a national security professional. Despite 16 years of dedicated public service and his perfect record as an employee, he was fired two weeks ago via email.

• Slotkin is hosting Andrew Lennox, a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs employee in Ann Arbor before he was fired by DOGE. Andrew was born and raised in Romeo, Michigan and received his bachelor’s in Middle Eastern Studies and Arabic from Western Michigan University in 2011. After graduating from college, Andrew enlisted in the Marines, where he served as an infantryman and recruiter for 10 years and was deployed in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria. Andrew was hired in the Primary Care Division at VA in Ann Arbor in December and was fired by DOGE by email in February.

• Alsobrooks is hosting Ottis Johnson, Jr., the National Vice President of the 14^thDistrict of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and a proud veteran of the United States Army. AFGE District 14 represents hundreds of thousands of federal workers.
  
  

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