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In early May 2025, a woman felt a sharp pain shoot from her hip while she bent over to water some plants. She collapsed and was unable to rise.

Her spouse summoned emergency services and she spent the night in a hospital, where, at 57, 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. At first, I didn’t clearly understand that it was part of my breast cancer which had spread to my spine, a location was a common place for it to go," she said.

"If I were to die prematurely, I could not imagine leaving [my husband] here. We really don’t have little family. We don’t have any children."

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 been teleworking since the onset of the global pandemic, from their residence outside Baltimore.

On the inaugural day in office in January, he issued requiring all federal agencies end all remote work arrangements. The office of personnel management directed agencies to implement the policy irrespective of existing union agreements.

"My husband’s a veteran in government service, and he’s an expert in his field. He’s been doing this for 20 years more now, so it is draining for him. We are in our fifties. He was leaving the house at five o’clock in the morning and getting home at seven at night," Michaela said. Her identity is protected as her husband remains employed at the Department of Transportation 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 and hormone therapy.

She was previously diagnosed with stage one breast cancer in 2014, but successfully treated it, as it was caught early, with a surgical procedure, radiation, chemotherapy and hormonal medication. With consistent monitoring, she managed her health, before her recent diagnosis of stage four metastatic breast cancer.

Navigating Reductions in Force and Restructuring

Throughout this year, her spouse survived reductions in force at the Department of Transportation. By spring, thousands of employees had departed the department, due to those reductions as well as employees retiring and voluntary resignations.

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

This translates to over ten thousand reduced staff at the department. Federal employee cuts have surpassed targets, with hundreds of thousands of workers leaving the federal government and only a fraction of replacements.

"We were worried about RIFs. We understand given the way things are operating, that this remains a constant threat because policies disregard 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 Government Shutdown

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

The couple celebrated their 18th wedding anniversary in early November, while the shutdown continued, but remained home because they couldn’t afford to dine out due to her husband going without a paycheck for several weeks.

She is thankful the government shutdown ended 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 desperate. I felt destitute. I was astonished, scared, 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 becoming despondent," she recounted.

Feeling Targeted

"We are merely one example in a ocean of millions people who strive diligently to achieve their positions, who attempt to do the right thing, and the people who are making all the decisions are just ransacking and leading the government and treating federal workers like adversaries, that they are not citizens, and that they should be attacked. I find this personally offensive to that," she expressed.

Future Uncertainty

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

"The continuing resolution is up for renewal again at the end of January and I am thinking this is going to happen once more. We’ve been through several shutdowns. This was decidedly the most severe," she said. "I am already fighting a life-threatening illness, and I am uncertain where it’s going to take me. I may survive for another year or two. I could be here for a decade."