The Golden Age of Resignations

Government employees are not going quietly

Well, at least you can say this for the dark, depressing, and frightful Trump era: It has given us magnificent resignation statements. In refusing to serve a tyrannical regime at odds with their oaths, the Constitution, and their professional obligations, a series of public servants has not only quit but gone out with a bang. Eloquent resignation letters from lawyers such as Danielle Sassoon, Hagan Scotten, and Sean P. Murphy reminded us that the Justice Department must not be enlisted to pursue the president’s corrupt agenda.

In the same vein, Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Rosen, the chief of the Justice Department's Capitol Siege Section, resigned last week. “The message that [the Jan. 6 pardons] send is that political violence towards a political goal is acceptable in a modern democratic society," Rosen said. "That, from my perspective, is anathema to a constitutional republic." Rosen warned about the “terrible message” that the pardons sent: “Individuals who were duly—and appropriately—convicted of federal crimes ranging in culpability are immediately let loose without any supervision, without any remorse, without any rehabilitation to civil society.” And Rosen condemned the effort to punish responsible prosecutors who acted in the best traditions of their department. (“To see those talented prosecutors be marginalized or removed from office is an affront to the independence of the department.”)

The parade of principled resignations is not limited to government lawyers. Mark Nebel, the manager of the Grand Canyon’s geosciences program, felt compelled to leave. He told The Guardian how the Trump-Musk cabal “made it impossible to do agreements with outside organizations, uphold contracts, purchase the tools we needed or send samples out to a lab for analysis.” Worse, he says, “We were supposed to stop talking about climate change.” So, he retired, sick “of being manipulated, humiliated and unable to do the work that I was hired to do for the American people.”

A similar story comes from Crater Lake. Kevin Heatley, who came on as superintendent of Crater Lake National Park in January, only survived a few months. Senseless staff and budget cuts left the remaining staff demoralized and unable to do their job. “It is really not an easy decision and not something I take lightly to walk away from Crater Lake,” he told the Washington Post. “But I’m tired of waking up at 3 in the morning and not being able to fall back asleep because I’m concerned about how I’m going to navigate the latest staffing communiqué.” The bottom line: the DOGE wrecking crew “is continuing to upend the lives of Park Service workers … [and] threatens to undermine the visitor experience at national parks across the country this summer, when visitation is expected to peak.” (A similar account came from Yellowstone National Park.)

In short, these government employees sent up a flare warning the public: With thousands of employees already let go, do not expect the crown jewels of our parks to shine. Nonsensical cuts, erratic decisions, and an abusive atmosphere are going to cause the Park Service, and hence our parks, to deteriorate.

The resignations seem to be coming fast and furious. CBS News reported:

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official said Tuesday she was resigning from her role overseeing updates to the agency's COVID-19 vaccine recommendations, following an order by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to force an update to the agency's guidance.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) had been set to vote on updated recommendations for COVID-19 vaccines “before Kennedy usurped the process to impose his own changes to the guidance.” Lakshmi Panagiotakopoulos emailed the COVID-19 vaccines work group: “My career in public health and vaccinology started with a deep-seated desire to help the most vulnerable members of our population, and that is not something I am able to continue doing in this role."

The pattern is unmistakable. Dedicated civil servants throughout government feel compelled to quit rather than violate their personal, professional, and/or legal obligations. Fortunately, rather than slink away, many have been speaking out, making a record of MAGA’s nihilistic destruction of functional government.

Every civil servant must weigh the costs and benefits associated with resigning. Can they still do good work? Can their work be protected from the Trump demolition team? Two things are certain, however: First, civil servants must never break the law, take action that harms Americans (or others), violate professional norms, or lie. If they do, they become accessories to immoral and/or illegal conduct. Second, if they do quit, they do not need to go quietly. They can educate the public, alert lawmakers, make a record for the courts, and lay down a marker that will inspire others to live up to the country’s highest ideals.

Perhaps we are experiencing the Golden Age of resignation, when quitting has become the finest act of patriotism and fidelity to public service. It certainly is a time when character is tested. What you do when you leave government has turned out to be just as important as what you do in government.

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