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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 water some plants. She collapsed and couldn’t get back up.

Her husband called an ambulance and she was admitted in a hospital, where, in her late fifties, she found out she had a mass on her spine. The diagnosis was metastatic breast cancer.

"There was no indication this would occur, and I was devastated. At first, I wasn't fully aware that it was part of my breast cancer that had metastasized to my spine, which I learned was a common place for it to go," she said.

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

When Trump won the 2024 presidential election, her spouse prepared to be forced back into the office at the Department of Transportation in Washington DC. He had worked remotely since the onset of the global pandemic, from their home outside Baltimore.

On the inaugural day in office in January, he issued requiring all federal agencies end all remote work arrangements. Federal personnel officials instructed agencies to enact the order irrespective of collective bargaining contracts.

"My husband’s a veteran in government service, and he is highly skilled in his field. He’s been doing this for 20 years now, so it’s exhausting for him. We are in our fifties. He was leaving the house at 5 a.m. in the morning and getting home at 7 p.m. at night," she stated. Her real name is withheld as her husband still works at the agency and fears reprisal.

In July, Michaela had surgery, a laminectomy. A few weeks after that, she had stereotactic radiation, and is currently on an oncology regimen called Kisqali and hormone therapy.

She was previously diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer a decade ago, but was able to treat it, due to early detection, with a surgical procedure, radiation, chemotherapy and hormonal medication. With consistent monitoring, she managed her health, prior to her latest diagnosis of stage four metastatic breast cancer.

Surviving Reductions in Force and Restructuring

Over the past year, her spouse survived layoffs at the DOT. By spring, nearly 2,800 employees had departed the department, due to those reductions as well as retirements and voluntary resignations.

According to a internal document on its plan for reductions in force and reorganization, the agency estimated that by December 31, 2025, its staffing levels would be cut by approximately 20 percent from earlier levels.

This would correlate to over ten thousand reduced staff at the department. Government workforce reductions have surpassed targets, with hundreds of thousands of workers leaving the government and only a fraction of replacements.

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

She noted that jobs for specializations at the agency are difficult to find and contractors often want to pay lower salaries.

Enduring a Government Shutdown

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

The couple celebrated their 18th anniversary in early November, while the shutdown continued, but remained home because they couldn’t afford to dine out due to her husband not being paid for multiple weeks.

She is relieved the government shutdown ended as she was worried about healthcare costs, but rues the increases in insurance premiums she and her husband have experienced, as well as for those who rely on healthcare through the Affordable Care Act marketplace.

"I felt hopeless. I felt destitute. I felt flabbergasted, scared, and I watched my husband and there were a few times where he sat at his desk and he gazed out the window. He was getting depressed," she said.

A Personal Offense

"We’re just one drop in a bucket of countless people who strive diligently to get where they are, who attempt to do the correct thing, and the people who are setting policy are seemingly dismantling and leading the government and treating government employees like they are enemies, that they are not citizens, and that they deserve targeting. I find this personally offensive to that," she said.

Future Uncertainty

Her current concern is a potential approaching federal closure on 30 January 2026, with the vast majority of federal funds set to lapse again without a long-term deal.

"The temporary funding measure is up for renewal again at the end of January and I fear this will repeat all over again. We’ve been through multiple closures. This by far was the most severe," she stated. "I’m already battling a serious disease, and I am uncertain where it’s going to take me. I may survive for a couple more years. I could be here for 10 years."