Colorado Democrats want to bring a spotlight to the real world effects that the Department of Government Efficiency is having on people and communities when President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress tonight.
They’re among the many Democratic lawmakers bringing laid-off federal workers as their guests, in the wake of mass firings led by billionaire businessman Elon Musk and DOGE, to broadcast their opposition to the slash-and-burn cuts the Trump Administration has instigated all across the country.
A few Colorado Democrats will focus on an agency with a major footprint in the state: the U.S. Forest Service.
Sen. Michael Bennet’s guest is Jamie Werner, a former U.S. Forest Service project management specialist from the White River National Forest office in Glenwood Springs, to the speech.
Werner said he wanted to serve the American people and help steward the public lands they care about. In a statement, he described his fellow terminated USFS workers as dedicated, committed, passionate and intelligent.
“It is infuriating and heartbreaking to see my colleagues essentially be told that not only does their important work not matter, but that they’re not even doing it well, and have had their lives and livelihoods upended as a result,” he said.
The USFS is overseen by the Department of Agriculture. Sen. Bennet sits on the Senate Agriculture committee.
“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,” Bennet said in a statement.
House Democrats’ Assistant Leader Neguse’s guest will be Mikayla Moors, who worked for the service as a Forestry Technician and was three months away from finishing her one year probationary period when she was fired.
Sen. John Hickenlooper is bringing Amelia Huffman, a Navy veteran who started a job with the USFS at Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests and Pawnee National Grassland. She too was a probationary employee.
On the Republican side, Rep. Gabe Evans is using his guest slot to highlight the harm caused by fentanyl. He’s bringing Liz Hardy, who lost her daughter Brooke to the drug in 2022. Hardy’s story was featured in a campaign ad run by the House Republicans’ Leadership PAC in Evans’ race against former Democratic Rep. Yadira Caraveo.
The former cop said in a statement that he saw first hand “how not supporting law enforcement enables traffickers and the flow of fentanyl into our communities.”
Rep. Jeff Hurd is bringing Andrei Iancu, an immigrant who rose to become Undersecretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and director at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office during the first Trump administration.
Rep. Lauren Boebert will make the evening a family affair, bringing her mother, Shawna Bentz, who is also a strong Trump supporter, to the event. Rep. Jeff Crank will do the same and bring his wife Lisa.
Two Democrats will not be attending the address.
In a statement, Democratic Rep. Diana DeGette said Trump’s “childish and shameful” incident with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his “barrage of illegal attacks against public servants” are a disgrace. “His actions are beneath the office of the President and do not merit my attendance at this Joint Address.”
However, DeGette said she would watch the address remotely and “I will continue to call out Trump’s lies and stand up for the truth.”
Democratic Rep. Brittany Pettersen will also be watching from home, with her newborn. Still, she will have a guest there. She invited a local official, Lakewood Mayor Wendi Strom, to attend.
