A federal worker based in Boston who gave a TV interview about food benefits and the impact of the government shutdown says she is being fired for discussing government programs publicly.

Ellen Mei, a 29-year-old employee with the Agriculture Department, appeared on MSNBC on Oct. 2 during the early stages of the prolonged government shutdown. Mei is a program specialist with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

During the interview last month, Mei discussed the impacts of the shutdown on SNAP benefits.

The next day, the agency informed Mei that she was going to be fired for her appearance on MSNBC, she told the outlet on Thursday.

“On October 3rd, I got a notice from the agency saying that they wanted to fire me for my appearance on MSNBC,” Mei said. “They said specifically that I was not authorized to speak on behalf of the agency and that I disclosed information that I was not authorized to disclose, and therefore, I was unfit for further federal service.”

She defended her initial interview last month as representing her own views and those of her union members.

Mei said she is also the president of the National Treasury Employees Union’s Chapter 255, which represents employees at USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service in the Northeast, according to an interview on MSNBC.

“I have a duty as a chapter president to represent the views of my coworkers, and I have a duty and a right to do so under the federal labor management statute,” Mei said.

Correspondence between Mei and the Agriculture Department states that the process to remove her from her position has begun, and that she will be let go 30 days after the shutdown ends, according to documentation obtained by The Washington Post.

During her four-minute interview in October, Mei said she and her co-workers are “anxious because we’re hearing about the risk potentials and office closures that are looming over USDA as this shutdown kind of drags on.”

She also explained how funding for SNAP would most likely be available in October, but that “things might get a little dicey if this drags on into November.”

Mei also granted interviews to The Boston Globe and GBH.

She has 20 days from the day the government reopens to contest her dismissal, the Post reported. She plans to appear at a news conference on Friday in Boston with other union members to protest the agency’s decision.

President Donald Trump signed a government funding bill on Wednesday night, ending a record 43-day shutdown. State leaders across the country are working to get full SNAP benefits to millions of people, though it could take up to a week for some to receive the delayed aid, The Associated Press reported.