National Park Service worker fired by DOGE says he felt 'frozen' until he was finally told he'd be rehired

• Eric Anderson was fired from the National Park Service amid DOGE's federal workforce cuts.
• The mass layoffs of federal workers caused a string of lawsuits.
• Though confident he was fired illegally, Anderson said he spent weeks feeling frozen.

Eric Anderson has had a rough month.

Instead of feeling the love on Valentine's Day, he was unceremoniously fired from his position as a federal worker at the National Park Service.

"My letter said, 'You are terminated effective immediately.' So that was my Happy Valentine's email," Anderson, a 48-year-old based in Chicago, told Business Insider. "For the last month, I've been just wondering, 'Okay, what is going to happen?'"

It came as part of a slew of layoffs instigated by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk's White House DOGE Office, which is working to cut the federal workforce as it reduces government spending.

In February, the administration fired thousands of probationary employees — those who had been in their roles for less than two years — across federal agencies, from the Department of Veterans Affairs to the Small Business Administration to the Office of Personnel Management. Anderson was one of them.

The White House had fired about 25,000 workers across 18 departments and agencies before a federal judge temporarily blocked the orders earlier this month. The White House also extended a buy-out offer to federal employees that similarly became the subject of litigation. Though the administration hoped to entice 5% to 10% of the federal workforce to take the deal, only about 75,000 — or about 3.75% — accepted the offer.

From essential to disposable and back again

The Department of Interior, which includes the National Park Service, lost 1,712 workers, according to a document the agency filed with the Justice Department.

Anderson worked primarily at the Indiana Dunes National Park. He said his official title was biological science technician, but he was working toward a title change to wildland firefighter, which would better describe his duties.

"During the growing season, I go out, and I do plant surveys in the prescribed burn units at not only the Indiana Dunes but other national parks around the Great Lakes," he said. "You do that kind of work because you love it. You do it because you want to see it better for future generations."

Though his termination letter said he was underperforming, he said that does not align with his past performance reviews or what his supervisors told officials who were making the cuts.

"They're like, 'We absolutely need these people. They're part of our fire crew. They do a lot,'" Anderson recalled. "My supervisors did their best to justify why I should still be there and why I'm essential."

In March, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to reinstate probationary employees across multiple agencies. US District Judge William Alsup said the premise for terminating employees based on "performance" issues was an unlawful "sham" to get around existing legal requirements for federal layoffs.

Many of the reinstated workers have been placed on administrative leave, which means they are being paid to do nothing instead of returning to their jobs. The Office of Personnel Management, the federal government's human resources department, said in a court filing that administrative leave is the first step toward reinstating workers.

Still, Anderson, who was just informed that he'd be reinstated, has doubts and remains concerned about what he called "the systematic dismantling of the apolitical civil service system."

Even though he feels confident that he was terminated illegally, Anderson said he spent weeks feeling frozen.

"I was very much in limbo," he said. "Should I be applying for other jobs? Should I be trying to line up private consulting work? It's unlike any time I've ever been between jobs."

Editor's Note: Anderson spoke with BI prior to being reinstated.