WASHINGTON, D.C., USA — President Donald Trump has fired the chair of the Tennessee Valley Authority, claiming it has betrayed American workers.
Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday that he was formally removing the authority’s chair of the board and another member of the board and threatened to remove other board members if they keep hiring foreign labor.
TVA confirmed the president dismissed Board Chair Skip Thompson and Board Member Richard Howorth from the TVA board. Trump had appointed Thompson and President Barack Obama had appointed Howorth.
"We understand and support today’s Executive Order. We want to ensure that U.S. employees have good opportunities through our employment and supply chain practices. We look forward to working with the White House, continuing a dialogue and supporting future policies in this direction," it said in a statement.
TVA also said all employees are U.S. based citizens, and all jobs related to TVA’s Information Technology department must be performed in the U.S. by individuals who may legally work in this country.
As a federal corporation, TVA’s Board members serve at the pleasure of the president, according to TVA. The Board’s by-laws allow for the Board to continue its oversight function with the loss of one or more of its members.
TVA’s mission of service is as relevant today as it was nearly 90 years ago when it was created: to serve the people of the Tennessee Valley to make life better.
TVA’s mission and operations are driven by the TVA Act, which mandates providing reliable energy at the lowest reasonable cost, managing natural resources responsibly, and promoting economic development, according to the corporation.
In its 2019 fiscal year alone, it said it reliably supplied more than 158 trillion kilowatt-hours of energy, 54% of which came from carbon-free sources; effectively managed the 653-mile Tennessee River system while preventing more than $1 billion in flood damage, and help attract or retain more than 66,000 jobs and almost $9 billion in capital investment to the Tennessee Valley.
The TVA is a federally owned corporation created in 1933 to provide flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing and economic development to the Tennessee Valley, a region that was hard hit by the Great Depression. The region covers most of Tennessee and parts of Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia.