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During the spring of 2025, a woman experienced a sudden, stabbing ache radiate from her hip while she bent over to water some plants. She collapsed and couldn’t get back up.

Her spouse summoned emergency services 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.

"I had no warning that that was going to happen, and I was devastated. Initially, 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 explained.

"If I were to die prematurely, I cannot bear the thought of leaving [my husband] here. We really don’t have any family. We are without children of our own."

Following the victory in the 2024 presidential election, her spouse prepared to be forced back into the office at the Department of Transportation in Washington DC. He had been teleworking since the beginning of the global pandemic, from their home outside Baltimore.

On the inaugural day in office on 20 January, an executive order was signed requiring all federal agencies terminate all remote work arrangements. Federal personnel officials directed agencies to implement the policy despite existing union agreements.

"My spouse is a long-time employee with the administration, and he is highly skilled in his field. He’s been doing this for two decades more now, so it’s exhausting for him. We’re in our 50s. He departed the house at 5 a.m. in the morning and getting home at 7 p.m. at night," Michaela said. Her identity is protected as her husband still works at the agency and is concerned about 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 alongside hormone therapy.

She was previously diagnosed with stage one breast cancer a decade ago, but successfully treated it, as it was caught early, with a surgical procedure, radiation, chemotherapy and tamoxifen. With consistent monitoring, she stayed on top of it, prior to her recent diagnosis of advanced metastatic breast cancer.

Surviving Job Cuts and Restructuring

Over the past year, her spouse avoided layoffs at the Department of Transportation. 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 staff reductions and reorganization, the agency estimated that by December 31, 2025, its staffing levels would be reduced by one-fifth from earlier levels.

This translates to over ten thousand fewer employees at the department. Government workforce reductions have surpassed targets, with hundreds of thousands of workers exiting the federal government and a small number of new hires.

"We were worried about layoffs. We understand based on the way things are operating, that this remains a constant threat because they ignore the law," Michaela explained.

She noted that specialized positions at the agency are hard to come by and private firms often want to pay reduced wages.

Enduring a Federal Closure

As the Department of Transportation was shedding employees, on 1 October a shutdown of the U.S. government began, lasting for 43 days, the most protracted in American history.

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

She is thankful the government shutdown concluded as she was anxious over healthcare costs, but laments the increases in insurance premiums she and her husband have experienced, as well as for those who rely on insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplace.

"I felt desperate. I felt impoverished. I felt flabbergasted, frightened, and I watched my husband and there were a few times where he was sitting at his desk and he gazed out the window. He was getting depressed," she said.

Feeling Targeted

"We’re just one drop in a ocean of countless people who work so hard to achieve their positions, who try to do the correct thing, and those who are making all the decisions are seemingly dismantling and leading the government and viewing federal workers like adversaries, 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 bulk of federal funds set to expire again without a long-term deal.

"The temporary funding measure comes up for a vote again on the 30th of January and I am thinking this is going to happen once more. We have endured multiple closures. This was decidedly the worst," she said. "I am already fighting a life-threatening illness, and I am uncertain what the future holds. I could be here for another year or two. I could be here for 10 years."