The Trump administration is gearing up to fire Ellen Mei, a program specialist in the Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service division.

Mei’s transgression? Giving an interview to MSNBC on Oct. 2, at the start of the government shutdown, and discussing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Here are the terrible, indefensible things she said.

First, Mei shared that she and her co-workers were “anxious because we’re hearing about the risk potentials and office closures that are looming over USDA as this shutdown kind of drags on.”

Well, yes? That doesn’t really seem like a controversial statement from a furloughed worker. Mei also explained that SNAP would likely still be funded through October, but “things might get a little dicey if this drags on into November.”

See Full Page