🔗 Share this article

During the spring of 2025, a woman experienced a sudden, stabbing ache shoot from her hip as she leaned down to tend to her garden. Then she fell over and was unable to rise.

Her husband summoned emergency services and she was admitted in a hospital, where, at 57, she found out she had a tumor on her spine. The diagnosis was metastatic breast cancer.

"I had no warning that that was going to happen, and I was devastated. At first, I wasn't fully aware that it was a recurrence of my breast cancer that had metastasized to my spine, which I learned is common for it to go," she explained.

"If I were to die prematurely, I cannot bear the thought of leaving [my husband] here. We have any family. We don’t have children of our own."

When Trump won the 2024 election, Michaela’s husband prepared to be forced to return to in-person work at the Department of Transportation in Washington DC. He had been teleworking since the beginning of the global pandemic, from their residence outside Baltimore.

On the inaugural day in office on 20 January, he issued requiring all federal agencies terminate all remote work arrangements. Federal personnel officials instructed agencies to enact the order despite existing union agreements.

"My husband’s a veteran with the administration, and he is highly skilled in his field. He has worked for 20 years now, so it’s exhausting for him. We’re in our 50s. He was leaving the house at 5 a.m. in the morning and returning at 7 p.m. at night," she stated. Her identity is protected as her husband still works at the agency and fears reprisal.

During the summer, Michaela had surgery, a laminectomy. A few weeks after that, she had stereotactic radiation, and is now taking an cancer treatment called Kisqali and hormone therapy.

She was previously diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer in 2014, but successfully treated it, due to early detection, with a partial lumpectomy, radiation, chemotherapy and tamoxifen. With consistent monitoring, she stayed on top of it, prior to her latest diagnosis of stage four metastatic breast cancer.

Navigating Reductions in Force and Reorganization

Throughout this year, Michaela’s husband avoided layoffs at the DOT. By spring, nearly 2,800 employees had departed the department, due to the cuts as well as employees retiring and voluntary resignations.

Per a memo on its plan for reductions in force and reorganization, the agency estimated that by the end of next year, its staffing levels would be cut by approximately 20 percent from earlier levels.

This translates to over ten thousand fewer employees at the Department of Transportation. Government workforce reductions have surpassed targets, with a significant number of workers leaving the government and a small number of new hires.

"We were worried about layoffs. We understand given the way this administration functions, that this remains a constant threat because they ignore the law," she elaborated.

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

Facing a Federal Closure

As the Department of Transportation was shedding employees, on 1 October a closure of the federal government began, lasting for over a month, the most protracted in American history.

Michaela and her husband marked their 18th anniversary in early November, while the shutdown continued, but stayed at home because they couldn’t afford to dine out due to her husband going without a paycheck for several weeks.

She is relieved the federal closure concluded as she was worried about medical bills, but rues the increases in healthcare premiums she and her husband have experienced, and for those who rely on healthcare through the ACA exchanges.

"I felt hopeless. I felt impoverished. I was astonished, scared, and I observed my husband and on several occasions where he was sitting at his desk and he was just staring out the window. He was getting depressed," she recounted.

A Personal Offense

"We’re just one drop in a ocean of countless people who strive diligently to achieve their positions, who attempt to do the right thing, and those who are making all the decisions are just ransacking and leading the government and viewing government employees like adversaries, that they are not citizens, and that they deserve targeting. I find this personally offensive to that," she said.

Future Uncertainty

She is now worried is a potential approaching federal closure in late January, with the bulk of federal funds set to lapse again absent a permanent agreement.

"The continuing resolution is up for renewal again at the end of January and I fear this will repeat all over again. We have endured multiple closures. This by far was the most severe," she stated. "I am already fighting a life-threatening illness, and I don’t know what the future holds. I may survive for a couple more years. I might live for 10 years."