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. She collapsed 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.
"There was no indication that that was going to happen, and I was devastated. At first, I didn’t clearly understand that it was a recurrence 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 are without children of our own."
Following the victory in the 2024 election, her spouse prepared to be forced back into the office at the DOT in Washington DC. He had worked remotely since the onset of the global pandemic, from their residence outside Baltimore.
On Trump’s first day in office on 20 January, an executive order was signed requiring all federal agencies terminate all telework arrangements. The office of personnel management directed agencies to implement the policy irrespective of collective bargaining contracts.
"My husband’s a veteran with the administration, and he’s an expert in his field. He’s been doing this for two decades 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 seven at night," she stated. Her identity is protected as her husband remains employed at the agency and is concerned about retaliation.
In July, she underwent an operation, a laminectomy. Shortly following that, she had stereotactic radiation, and is currently on an cancer treatment called Kisqali alongside hormone therapy.
She was previously diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer in 2014, but successfully treated it, due to early detection, with a surgical procedure, radiation, chemotherapy and tamoxifen. Through regular checkups, she managed her health, before her recent diagnosis of stage four metastatic breast cancer.
Surviving Job Cuts and Restructuring
Throughout this year, Michaela’s husband avoided layoffs at the Department of Transportation. By spring, thousands of employees had departed the department, due to those reductions as well as employees retiring and people quitting.
Per a memo on its plan for reductions in force and restructuring, the agency estimated that by December 31, 2025, its workforce would be cut by one-fifth from levels at the start of the year.
This translates to over ten thousand fewer employees at the department. Government workforce reductions have exceeded goals, with a significant number of workers leaving the federal government and a small number of new hires.
"We were concerned about layoffs. We understand given the way this administration functions, that this remains a constant threat because policies disregard the law," she elaborated.
She added that jobs for specializations at the agency are difficult to find and private firms often want to pay reduced wages.
Enduring a Government Shutdown
As the Department of Transportation was shedding employees, on 1 October a closure of the U.S. government began, lasting for over a month, the longest in American history.
The couple marked their 18th anniversary in the fall, while the shutdown continued, but remained home because finances prevented them to go out to eat due to her husband going without a paycheck for several weeks.
She is thankful the government shutdown concluded as she was worried about healthcare costs, but laments the rising costs in healthcare premiums she and her husband have experienced, and for those who rely on healthcare through the Affordable Care Act marketplace.
"I felt hopeless. I felt impoverished. I felt flabbergasted, scared, and I watched my husband and on several occasions where he sat at his desk and he gazed out the window. He was getting depressed," she said.
Feeling Targeted
"We are merely one example in a bucket of millions people who work so hard to get where they are, who try to do the correct thing, and the people who are setting policy are seemingly dismantling and managing the government and viewing federal workers like adversaries, that they are not citizens, and that they deserve targeting. I find this personally offensive to that," she said.
A Looming Threat
Her current concern is another possible approaching federal closure on 30 January 2026, with the bulk of federal funds set to lapse again without a long-term deal.
"The continuing resolution comes up for a vote 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 serious disease, and I don’t know where it’s going to take me. I may survive for another year or two. I might live for a decade."
