Mar 04, 2025
By Ariana Figueroa – States Newsroom D.C. Bureau
WASHINGTON D.C. — As President Donald Trump gives his first address to Congress of his second term, among the hundreds of guests in attendance will be federal employees fired by Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service.
In a rebuke against the Trump administration’s first month in office, Democrats invited fired federal employees, along with migrants who have been harmed by the president’s immigration crackdown.
“The slash-and-burn approach that Trump and DOGE have taken has already disrupted so many lives, and does nothing to bring down the rising prices across the country,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement.
The New York Democrat invited Alissa Ellman, a veteran with a disability who served in Afghanistan. She was fired from her job at the Department of Veterans Affairs because she was hired last year and therefore a probationary employee, along with workers who were recently promoted and in a probationary period.
NIH cancer researcher fired
Democrats invited as their guests park rangers, cancer researchers and veterans. Roughly 30% of the 2 million federal government employees are veterans.
Arizona Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego will bring Kyle Rahn as his guest. Rahn is a disabled veteran and was a federal worker at the Department of Homeland Security who was fired by DOGE cuts.
DOGE stands for Department of Government Efficiency, although the entity is not a federal department. Musk’s title is special government employee.
Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland invited one of the thousands of employees purged from the Department of Health and Human Services — Lauren McGee, a biologist researching children’s cancer at the National Institutes of Health’s National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland.
Raskin, who is a cancer survivor, said McGee’s firing has “devastating consequences for all Americans when President Trump and Elon Musk indiscriminately attack public health authorities.”
“Her unceremonious discharge hurts all the current and future patients depending on her research for medical progress,” Raskin said.
Guests invited by Republicans included immigration enforcement officials and student athletes who oppose allowing transgender athletes to compete in sports, and the American families of the Israeli hostages from the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
First lady Melania Trump invited more than a dozen guests, including Marc Fogel, a teacher from Butler, Pennsylvania who was held hostage by Russia and freed last month, and Payton McNabb from Murphy, North Carolina, a former student athlete who is opposed to transgender women athletes competing in women’s sports.
Laken Riley family invited
The president’s address is likely to highlight the administration’s push for mass deportations, and the passage of an immigration detention bill, known as the Laken Riley Act.
The White House invited the family of Laken Riley to attend the address — her mother, Allyson Phillips, and her sister, Lauren Phillips, from Woodstock, Georgia.
Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst also pushed an amendment to that bill to require the detention of any migrant without legal status charged with bodily harm or death. The amendment was in response to the death of Sarah Root, a Council Bluffs, Iowa, woman who was killed by an immigrant in the country without legal authorization and released by local law enforcement.
Ernst invited Scott Root, the father of Sarah Root, as a guest for the address.
“After a nine-year battle for change, this week we remember Sarah and the fact that under the leadership of President Trump, our nation’s laws will no longer prioritize illegal immigrants over Americans,” Ernst said in a statement. “I continue to elevate Sarah’s story to the highest levels and partner with the White House to provide closure for her loved ones.”
Haitian migrant invited
Democrats invited guests who have been affected by the White House’s efforts to limit legal pathways for immigration.
Florida’s Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost invited a guest who was previously a labor organizer and has been extended Temporary Protected Status for Haiti, Wilna Destin.
TPS is granted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security when a country is deemed too dangerous to return to for reasons such as violence, political instability or natural disasters. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem ended TPS for Haiti last month, removing protections for hundreds of thousands of Haitian immigrants and subjecting them to deportation by August.
“After more than 20 years of working in the hospitality industry and raising a family here, she and her husband—along with over 500,000 Haitian TPS holders—now face the threat of deportation,” Frost said of Destin in a statement.
Oregon forest ranger a guest
One of the 16 forest rangers fired from Oregon’s Deschutes National Forest will be a guest of Rep. Janelle Bynum.
The Oregon Democrat said the decision to fire Liz Crandall, a former U.S. Forest Service ranger, undermines public safety and puts the community at a disadvantage during the next wildfire season.
“Our communities are vulnerable to wildfires and after the recent devastation we’ve seen across the country, the Trump Administration has responded by firing those who help keep us safe,” Bynum said in a statement. “Liz is a dedicated public servant and played a key role in public safety – her firing benefits no one.”
Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet will also bring a Forest Service employee who was fired as a probationary employee. In a statement, Bennet said that 3,400 U.S. Forest Service employees were fired, including 90 in Colorado.
“Forest Service employees across the West are true public servants, dedicating their lives to managing our public lands to power our economy, keep our air and water clean, and protect our communities from growing wildfire risk,” Bennet said. “The decision to terminate these employees at our already understaffed land management agencies reveals a complete disregard for the importance of public lands in the West and the value of these employees’ contributions to our local communities.”
Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia will bring one of the 1,000 fired National Park Service employees. His guest, Ashley Ranalli of Fredericksburg, was a NPS park ranger at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park.
He said that Ranalli survived thyroid cancer and now has no health insurance.
“Ashley Ranalli is one of the many dedicated public servants who have been forced out of their jobs serving Americans by President Trump and Elon Musk,” Warner said. “These indiscriminate cuts of Park Service personnel are devastating to the parks and their local
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