Probationary federal workers in Minnesota stuck in limbo, awaiting back pay

Nicolette Shegstad is back on the Internal Revenue Service payroll but on administrative leave.

Voyageurs National Park ranger and supervisor Kate Severson is back at her desk, but when she got there she did not have access to her email and other necessary programs.

Both are among hundreds of probationary employees in Minnesota fired about six weeks ago. Many have been called back following successful court challenges or through federal government appeals, but exist in employment limbo.

Those back on the job are worried they will be fired again and are waiting for promised back pay. Those who have not been called back are weighing options from lawsuits to new positions elsewhere.

With 18,031 Minnesota employees as of Dec. 10 (not including active duty military and the U.S. Postal Service), the federal government is the 10th largest employer in the state, making it a crucial piece of local economy.

One of President Donald Trump's campaign promises was to downsize government, appointing billionaire CEO Elon Musk to head the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to start the process.

Many of the employees interviewed by the Minnesota Star Tribune said they took a government job because they wanted to serve the country in some capacity and are quick to point out their contributions.

Shegstad had worked for the IRS in St. Paul for 11 months and in that time helped more than 200 taxpayers get the right documents and pay $500,000 in owed taxes, she said.

In the fall, the IRS honored her with a merit award that came with a $300 check.

Severson said she and her team of eight generated $1 million in revenue during her seven months at Voyageurs from park visitors renting boats, campsites and buying goods at three park stores.

A woman who worked at the Minneapolis office of the Center for Devices and Radiological Health of the Food and Drug Administration was initially fired last month. But after the medical device industry intervened, almost everyone in her department was reinstated the week of Feb. 24. She — like several other federal workers — asked to remain anonymous as the government still owes her benefits.

The woman subsequently accepted a job in the private industry. Most of her co-workers have done the same, or are actively interviewing for nongovernment jobs, she said.

The problem for several federal workers who spoke to the Star Tribune: Back-to-work notices were sent to work emails, but their access to government systems was cut off with their initial firings.

A Minnesota-based human resources specialist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture said the federal Merit Systems Protection Board ordered all USDA probationary employees back to work.

But as of a week ago, his previous supervisor had not spoken to him, so he was not back to work.

The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development has established a portal for displaced federal employees. The state's Federal Workers Resource Page — which offers job counseling, access to job listings, skills assessments and résumé help — received more than 14,000 visits in the first two weeks.

DEED Commissioner Matt Varilek said he is "quite concerned" as not just federal workers' jobs are at stake. More Minnesotans have already lost jobs due to cuts in various programs, and he expects that to grow as more federal contracts and grants are slashed.

"We anticipate in the month ahead we will see facets of these many layoffs in our data," Varilek said. "There are just the raw economic impacts of having all these folks displaced. And then there is the interruption of services that those individuals were providing."

With the on-again, off-again cuts, it could take months before the overall effects show up in jobs data.

The Department of Veterans Affairs employs the most workers in Minnesota, at 8,702 as of December. Dozens of fired probationary workers there found out last week they were rehired and would receive back pay but were then put on administrative leave.

Two weeks ago, Shegstad — a disabled Air Force veteran — protested for the first time in her life with other fired workers at the State Capitol in St. Paul.

"I'm not going to just accept this because it's not legal at all what they are doing," she said. "There are protections for people."

Shegstad said several IRS employees who work out of Wells Fargo Place alongside her were fired on Feb. 20.

Since she was fired, she appealed the action, contacted two law firms and elected officials, filed for unemployment benefits, talked to a job counselor from DEED and interviewed with recruiters at the Hiring Our Heroes job fair for veterans at the Xcel Center in St. Paul.

Shegstad said as of Wednesday she had received no word on when back pay would arrive or if she would eventually be able to return to active employment.

"My director alluded to the agency expecting to continue to do cuts, so I don't know how long I'll be employed," she said.

Since her initial firing, Severson, the park ranger, picketed at Voyageurs, flew to Washington, D.C., at the invitation of U.S. Sen. Tina Smith and attended Trump's recent address to Congress. She fielded interviews from media around the country and tried to explain why she believed her firing made no sense.

Severson has been in the news before. She planned the public memorial service for a park ranger who drowned last spring at Voyageurs after helping save a father and son in a capsized canoe.

Her work on that case and with bringing the public to the park won her praise from her bosses.

Since her initial firing, Severson, whose husband's job at Voyageurs also is at risk, applied for a role with the Transportation Security Agency at the International Falls Airport. She got a preliminary job offer. She also applied for a state forest job in Ohio.

Last week, Severson said she was pessimistic about long-term job options at Voyageurs and believed the Trump administration would appeal two judges' orders to reinstate probationary workers. Her worries proved correct.

On Monday, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to block the judges' reinstatement orders.

"I do not think my job is secure and so I can't celebrate," she said.

After being assured she still had health care benefits, she also scheduled her first-ever therapy session.

"My mood swings and managing the uncertainty and all the 'what-ifs' have become unbearable," she said.

Chris Wicker, a Minneapolis man who was fired, rehired and then fired again as the No. 2 person in the Minnesota district office of the Small Business Administration, filed a legal challenge against the federal government.

He was a guest of Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar at Trump's address before a joint session.

Different courts have heard workers' cases. One ruling earlier this month covered him and he was rehired again, but then placed on administrative leave.

He said he is not commenting on his current situation. Before the court ruling, he said his legal challenge was not so much about getting his old job back, but "about holding the government accountable and ensuring that no future workforce is treated this way."

Many of the federal workers said they can't wait indefinitely until the Trump administration figures out a permanent downsizing plan.

A Minnesota woman who was fired from the National Institutes of Health as a technical information specialist said the job market is slow.

She cut her budget and is contemplating delaying her August wedding.

"I still talk to my old team. It's such chaos," she said.

Shegstad said her back pay can't come soon enough.

"Probably like most Americans I don't have a nest egg to fall back on. There is no emergency fund," Shegstad said.

Her boyfriend is covering her $800 share of the rent. But she still has to pay for her car, license tabs and food.

"There is no room for anything," she said.

A friend recently paid an entry fee so she could join some friends to go fishing, she said.

"There wasn't even money for that."