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During the spring of 2025, a woman experienced a sudden, stabbing ache shoot from her hip while she bent over to tend to her garden. Then she fell over and couldn’t get back up.

Her husband called an ambulance and she spent the night in a hospital, where, in her late fifties, she found out she had a tumor on her spine. It was metastatic breast cancer.

"I had no warning this would occur, and I was devastated. Initially, I wasn't fully aware that it was a recurrence of my breast cancer which had spread to my spine, a location is common for it to go," she explained.

"Should I pass away early, I could not imagine leaving [my husband] here. We really don’t have any family. We don’t have children of our own."

Following the victory in the 2024 presidential election, Michaela’s husband prepared to be forced to return to in-person work at the Department of Transportation in Washington DC. He had worked remotely since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, from their home outside Baltimore.

On Trump’s first day in office on 20 January, an executive order was signed demanding all federal agencies end all remote work arrangements. Federal personnel officials directed agencies to implement the policy irrespective of existing union agreements.

"My husband’s a veteran with the administration, and he is highly skilled in his field. He has worked for two decades more now, so it’s exhausting for him. We’re in our 50s. He departed the house at five o’clock in the morning and getting home at 7 p.m. at night," Michaela said. Her real name is withheld as her husband still works at the Department of Transportation and fears retaliation.

During the summer, she underwent an operation, a laminectomy. A few weeks after that, she had targeted radiation therapy, and is currently on an oncology regimen called Kisqali alongside hormone therapy.

She had stage one breast cancer a decade ago, but was able to treat it, as it was caught early, with a partial lumpectomy, radiation, chemotherapy and hormonal medication. With consistent monitoring, she stayed on top of it, before her latest diagnosis of stage four metastatic breast cancer.

Navigating Reductions in Force and Reorganization

Over the past year, Michaela’s husband survived reductions in force at the Department of Transportation. By spring, nearly 2,800 employees had departed the department, due to the cuts as well as retirements and voluntary resignations.

Per a internal document on its plan for staff reductions and reorganization, the agency estimated that by December 31, 2025, its workforce would be cut by one-fifth from earlier levels.

This would correlate to more than 10,000 reduced staff at the department. Federal employee cuts have exceeded goals, with hundreds of thousands of workers exiting the federal government and only a fraction of replacements.

"We were worried about RIFs. It is clear given the way this administration functions, that this is always on the table because they ignore the law," Michaela explained.

She added that specialized positions at the agency are difficult to find and private firms often want to pay reduced wages.

Enduring a Federal Closure

While the DOT was losing staff, on 1 October a shutdown of the federal government began, lasting for over a month, the most protracted in US history.

Michaela and her husband celebrated their 18th wedding anniversary in early November, while the shutdown continued, but remained home because they couldn’t afford to go out to eat due to her husband going without a paycheck for multiple weeks.

She is thankful the government shutdown ended as she was worried about healthcare costs, but laments the increases in healthcare premiums she and her husband have experienced, and for those who rely on insurance through the ACA exchanges.

"I felt desperate. I felt impoverished. I was astonished, frightened, and I observed my husband and there were a few times where he sat at his desk and he was just staring out the window. He was becoming despondent," she said.

Feeling Targeted

"We are merely one example in a ocean of countless people who work so hard to achieve their positions, who attempt to do the correct thing, and the people who are setting policy are just ransacking and managing the government and viewing government employees like they are enemies, that they are lesser citizens, and that they deserve targeting. And I take personal offense to that," she said.

Future Uncertainty

Her current concern is a potential looming government shutdown in late January, with the vast majority of federal funds set to lapse again without a permanent agreement.

"The temporary funding measure is up for renewal again at the end of January and I fear this is going to happen all over again. We have endured multiple closures. This was decidedly the worst," she said. "I am already fighting a serious disease, and I am uncertain what the future holds. I could be here for another year or two. I might live for 10 years."