#Trump calls for firing of Tennessee Valley Authority President Jeff Lyash

President Trump on Monday called for the ouster of the highest-paid federal worker, Tennessee Valley Authority President Jeff Lyash, citing his plans to outsource jobs to India.

Trump told reporters at the White House he’s firing TVA board chairman James Thompson and board member Richard Howorth for laying off dozens of IT workers while hiring foreign replacements. Trump said Lyash will soon lose his job too.

“We’re getting rid of [Lyash] in one form or another. Either the board’s gonna do it, or we’re gonna do it, but he’s gone,” he said. “We will get somebody for a much lower price. I want the savings on a lower salary… to go to the people of these great states in the form of energy savings.”

The TVA is a federally owned electricity provider that controls dozens of dams built during the Great Depression as a jobs program. It also owns three nuclear power plants.

Trump hosted TVA workers impacted by the outsourcing in the White House Cabinet Room while signing an executive order to block TVA outsourcing. Trump said he was especially outraged at the compensation package for Lyash, who earned $8.1 million last year.

“The board must work to ensure the CEO does not receive a lavish compensation package upon his departure,” Trump said. “He gets $8 million a year, and I can think of about almost 100 percent of the people I know would take that job.”

Trump said the TVA “has been a feeding pot for a long time and a lot of deep state, a lot of swamp creatures.”

Trump added: ”He gets $8 million a year so that was just a succession of deep swamp things happening and it’s a disgrace … So let this serve as a warning to any federally appointed board. If you betray American workers, then you will hear two simple words, ‘You’re fired. You’re fired.’”

Trump said he wanted to learn how much other TVA board members earn. Many execs earn well over the US presidential salary of $400,000.

Trump made his first public remarks about the TVA in April at a White House press conference, responding to The Post’s reporting that some members of his administration wanted to slash Lyash’s pay in potential infrastructure legislation during the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

Trump told The Post at the news conference that he would support “reducing it by a lot.” Reining in executive pay is also supported by some Democrats.

The White House said the executive order signed by Trump on Monday seeks to require federal agencies to prioritize hiring Americans. It said the order was motivated by the TVA’s outsourcing plans.

“This Executive Order follows the federally-owned Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) announcement that it will outsource 20 percent of its technology jobs to companies based in foreign countries,” the White House said in a release. “TVA’s action could cause more than 200 highly-skilled American tech workers in Tennessee to lose their jobs to low-wage, foreign workers hired on temporary work visas.”