‘I am elated’: A Chattanoogan in the federal government gets her job back after judge’s ruling
- Mason Edwards!
- Mar 14
- 6 min read
By Mason Edwards, Chattanooga Times Free Press
The Department of Energy wasted no time in telling Victoria DiStefano, a Chattanoogan working in the federal government, that she can have her job back.
U.S. District Judge William Alsup on Thursday ordered the government to reinstate thousands of probationary workers across multiple agencies, including the Energy Department. Federal agencies were given seven days to comply.
But by Friday afternoon, DiStefano learned she can return to work — one month after her termination by the cost-cutting administration of President Donald Trump, which is appealing the decision.
"I am elated. I'm very, very excited to be going back to work," she said by phone after hearing the news. "I got a call from my office. My office has a rep who deals with HR, and she called me to let me know my options, including one of them being reinstated."
She can't recall the other options, she was so excited to hear about getting her job back. She was not dwelling too much on the firing as she processed the news.
"I think that we have the checks and balances in the U.S. for a reason, and I think that they played their role with how they were designed to, and I'm grateful for that,"
DiStefano said. "I hope that this a good lesson for the current administration about future actions."
AMERICAN DREAM
DiStefano, 33, always subscribed to the American dream. She believed her hard work would pay off.
Inspired by her two grandfathers who worked at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, she pursued a career in science policy, earning a Ph.D. in energy science and engineering, conducting research at Oak Ridge and securing a policy fellowship with the Department of Energy's Office of Science in Washington, D.C., in 2020.
DiStefano, who grew up in St. Elmo and went to Notre Dame High School, said she isn't motivated by money. Rather, she believes science, when applied to technology and innovation, is a public good. She wasn't a political appointee or a figure shaping national debates — her job was as a science and technology adviser in a traditionally nonpartisan office.
Described by her co-workers as a "Swiss Army knife," DiStefano helped answer Congress's questions about complex energy science in accurate, understandable papers, so that Congress could decide how and when to fund research. She also supported the scientific leadership, like arranging trips across the country and helping with intra-agency coordination within the department.
"If questions came in from Congress about the Office of Science — an $8 billion office, but still just a part of the DOE — they would come to me," she said. "I'd either draft responses or make sure accurate answers were provided."
She joined the department in 2020 and moved into an apartment in D.C. She was hired into the excepted service in October 2022, a less stable position exempt from regular hiring rules. In October 2024, she moved into the competitive service, hoping for long-term stability. She was saving up for a house in the area, but her dreams of working for the American people came to a halt on Feb. 13.
"We did start to hear some kind of D.C. whispers about things maybe happening," she said.
When she attempted to check her employment records that day, she was locked out.
"That was a red flag," she said. "Then, I got an email from my boss telling me I had been terminated. I had worked (at the Office of Science) for so long, I didn't realize that when I started the new position, I had started a probationary period."
Firings of government workers by the Trump administration have been aimed at probationary workers, who have fewer protections.
At 6 p.m. on Feb. 13, DiStefano received an email that derailed her life. She was terminated, effective that day.
She barely had time to send goodbye messages to her colleagues.
"I left a lot of people off that list," she said. "I had no opportunity to wrap things up."
Her termination wasn't about performance, DiStefano said, her evaluations were excellent.
According to DiStefano, her email stated her "role was no longer in the interest of the public."
DOGE CUTS
Thousands of probationary federal employees were abruptly dismissed as part of a sweeping workforce reduction ordered by the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, according to The Associated Press.
Trump established DOGE through an executive order with the goals of reducing expenses and increasing efficiency in the federal government. Led by the world's richest man, Elon Musk, DOGE claims to have saved over $115 billion in cuts, according to its government website, doge.gov. Media reports have found serious discrepancies in the claims made by DOGE, and savings claimed on its website have recently been deleted by the hundreds, according to Reuters.
The Trump administration framed the job cuts as eliminating waste. Trump called the federal workforce "bloated" and "sloppy" in a Cabinet meeting, according to The Associated Press, and claimed many employees, particularly ones working from home, aren't doing their jobs.
According to the Pew Research Center, 53% of Americans believe the government should do more to solve problems, yet 56% said the government is "almost always wasteful and inefficient."
DiStefano isn't sure what DOGE's responsibilities are, but she questioned where their authority comes from.
"I think they should be written into law by Congress," she said.
Twenty states sued multiple federal agencies, arguing that the Trump administration unlawfully dismissed thousands of probationary federal workers, according AP. Unions representing federal employees, including DiStefano's union, the National Treasury Employees Union, also filed lawsuits, accusing the administration of exploiting the probationary period.
"The American people will suffer from the loss of the important government services these workers provide," the union's president, Doreen Greenwald, said in a news release. "We will not stand idly by while this administration takes illegal actions that will harm citizens, federal employees and the economy."
IMPACT ON SCIENCE
The Energy Department's Office of Science is the nation's largest federal funder of basic physical sciences research, according to its website, supporting national laboratories and university researchers working on quantum computing, artificial intelligence and fusion energy.
"My office was mainly a funding arm," DiStefano said. "We didn't regulate anything. Scientists submit proposals for various funding calls, and we get scientists to peer-review them. The best proposals get funding, either at universities, national labs, or private sector."
Losing her job was painful, she said, as she watched the damage ripple through the entire field.
"These cuts aren't just bureaucratic — they slow down progress," she said. "When funding is uncertain, researchers don't take on graduate students, post-docs don't get hired and promising projects stall."
DiStefano didn't post about her firing on social media. Even though her friends and family have been supportive, she's concerned people will jump to conclusions.
"Federal employees aren't just sitting there twiddling their thumbs, not doing anything," she said. "The people I worked with — they work so hard for the advancement of science. People dismiss them as a monolith, but they're some of the most high-performing, dedicated people I know."
The firings, she said, prioritized speed over accuracy.
"Career federal employees are trained to make sure what they're doing is correct before they take action," she said. "It's hard to undo something like this."
DiStefano said she will head back to Washington next week and has a lot of logistics to work out.
"My job is to support the administration's priorities as a career employee," she said. "That won't change when I come back. I'll continue to work for the advancement of science in the U.S. and the people doing the science.
"It's so new, I've got a lot to process, a lot to process, but I'm also excited they'll have things like my health insurance back and things to process this new change.
"I'm just happy that I have my job back."
Contact staff writer Mason Edwards at medwards@timesfreepress.com.
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