March 4 The Constitution

Proud Boys and pipeline polluters are on the march. Are we?

Author

Brad Johnson
February 21, 2025

Hill Heat isn’t cowed by ketamine-addled billionaires or financed by fossil-fuel interests. We’re powered by subscribers like you. If you can chip in now to help continue our anti-fascist, pro-democracy work, please do so:

PRESENTED BY A DING DARLING GOPHER TORTOISE
❝

There once was a senator named Mitch
whose career went without hitch
until the Trump coup
and a vote for Kash too
and now he's the Proud Boys' little enabler.

Yesterday, the Senate GOP voted to confirm J6 Prison Choirboy Kash Patel as FBI Director.1 After supporting the treasonous insurrectionist, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced his plans to retire from the Senate.2 The Senate then moved to a vote-a-rama on its draconian budget plan, finishing up at 4:34 am this morning. Today, Patel’s beloved Proud Boys and Oath Keepers are gathering at the Capitol to celebrate their return to power, as Proud Boy leader Enrique Tarrio told Raw Story’s Matt Laslo, at “the scene of the crime,” now that they have been pardoned by the traitor Donald Trump for their part in his failed violent 2021 coup.

Also yesterday, nearly 7,000 employees of the Internal Revenue Service were illegally fired by the Trump regime.

Sing-along at IRS HQ, Friday at 12:30 pm

Thousands of Internal Revenue Service employees were illegally fired yesterday. If you’re in DC, you can show them some love today.

Meet Abby Berg, one of the tens of thousands of dedicated public servants illegally and unconstitutionally discarded by Elon Musk’s deadly chainsaw. Ms. Berg has kindly agreed to share her story with Hill Heat.

Abigail Berg, P.E., relocating a gopher tortoise

“I got the call that I was offered a position with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Valentine’s Day 2024 and was terminated on false grounds on Valentine’s Day 2025.

I started my job in May 2024, hired as a term employee to work with the Southeast Region’s Infrastructure Management Division as a Civil Engineer. My position was created as a result of an increase in project load caused by damage from Hurricane Ian in 2022. I was stationed at Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge located on Sanibel Island, which was directly hit by Hurricane Ian. I was a term position, as I was told my funding was from disaster supplemental funds—these funds are allocated by Congress.

I packed up my life in Minnesota and the service moved me across the country to Fort Myers, FL for this job where I now find myself thousands of miles away from friends, family, and professional connections and without a job. 

Our work spans all infrastructure on National Wildlife Refuges and Hatcheries in our region. This entails water control structures, roadways, boat lifts and docks, boardwalks, trails, dams, visitors centers, administrative buildings, HVAC, utilities, and so on. Our team used the knowledge and skills of each person to provide a well-rounded technical review of plans. My background is in water resources and transportation design. I managed projects but was also a technical resource to refuges on existing projects. There is not a single structure at Ding Darling NWR that was not affected by Hurricane Ian. They are all undergoing rehabilitation. I had multiple projects that were about to be solicited for bid and finally constructed. 

I was doing good work with my team and there was no grounds to terminate me based on my performance, knowledge, or skills.

I was told that our team received the funding that was awarded for disaster supplemental projects from Hurricanes Helene and Milton on the same day that I was let go. That means that the same day that our work begins for these disaster recovery efforts, they lost team members that were hired for the purpose of doing that disaster recovery work. Now they will take on the workload that we leave behind, in addition to adding more projects. When projects take longer this increases the cost as construction costs only go up, and also importantly increase the timeline that it takes to get projects built.

The way this mass firing is affecting multiple agencies that have a role in these disaster recovery efforts is incredibly concerning.”

—Abigail Berg, P.E., illegally fired from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Are you, like Abby, a federal worker fired by the treasonous Trump-Musk regime? House Democrats have finally woken up: Share your story so they can fight for you. Opposition leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) is calling on every member to bring a constituent hurt by the Nerd Reich to the March 4th State of the Union address. That same day, thousands will be rallying and marching across the nation to march 4 liberty, march 4 schools, and march 4th against monarchy.

House Science, with Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), has jurisdiction for NIST, NASA, NSF, NWS, DOE national labs, and scientific R&D across DOE, EPA, DOT, FAA, and NOAA. Share your story.

Were you fired from the Department of the Interior, U.S. Forest Service, NOAA, or the Power Marketing Administration? Share your story with House Natural Resources Democrats, led by Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.)

There’s a happy hour tonight at Lyman’s Tavern for fired federal workers. Additionally, if you or any of your friends and family are fired federal workers, you can show your appreciation for DOGE at their house party on Saturday night, at 1375 Maryland Ave NW.

Let’s gather along with other federal labor unions, unorganized federal workers, contractors and community supporters to help raise some hardship funds for those who are directly affected by this assault. At Lyman’s Tavern, 3720 14th St NW & Quincy St NW 7-11 pm 100% of select drinks from sponsors and 10% of all other sales will be donated to a federal workers’ support fund.

Happy hour and fundraiser tonight for fired federal works at Lyman’s Tavern

ENERGY TRANSFER MAKING HEADLINES: A pipeline leak tainted at least six water wells in Pennsylvania with jet fuel. The leak went on for at least 16 months before being discovered in January, according to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, which has not yet been dismantled by Trump. Pipeline giant Energy Transfer LP has now offered to buy the homes. Meanwhile, Energy Transfer is trying to weaponize the judicial system against nonviolent protest with at $300 million trial against Greenpeace that begins Monday.

A happy gopher tortoise in Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. Credit: Abby Berg

A happy gopher tortoise in Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. Credit: Abby Berg

Climate Action Today:

Thanks for subscribing and spreading the word. If you’ve got job listings, event listings, or other hot news, I want to hear it. Connect with me—@climatebrad.hillheat.com on BlueSky, @[email protected], and climatebrad on LinkedIn.

Hill Heat isn’t powered by fossil-fuel greenwashing cash. It’s powered by beautiful, radiant readers like you:

1  Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) voted against Patel, after voting earlier to move his nomination forward.

2  Last week, Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) announced she would not seek reëlection in 2026. Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan declared her candidacy for the seat yesterday.

Reply

or to participate.