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In early May 2025, a woman felt a sharp pain radiate from her hip as she leaned down to tend to her garden. She collapsed and couldn’t get back up.

Her spouse summoned emergency services and she was admitted in a hospital, where, at 57, she found out she had a tumor on her spine. It 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 which had spread to my spine, which I learned is common for it to go," she explained.

"Should I pass away early, I could not imagine leaving [my husband] here. We have little family. We don’t have children of our own."

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 worked remotely since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, from their residence outside Baltimore.

On the inaugural day in office in January, an executive order was signed demanding all federal agencies terminate all remote work arrangements. The office of personnel management instructed agencies to enact the order irrespective of collective bargaining contracts.

"My spouse is a long-time employee with the administration, and he’s an expert in his field. He has worked for 20 years more now, so it’s exhausting for him. We’re in our 50s. He was leaving the house at five o’clock 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, she underwent an operation, a laminectomy. Shortly following that, she had stereotactic radiation, and is now taking an oncology regimen called Kisqali alongside hormone therapy.

She had stage one breast cancer a decade ago, but successfully treated it, as it was caught early, with a partial lumpectomy, radiation, chemotherapy and tamoxifen. With consistent monitoring, she managed her health, prior to her recent diagnosis of stage four metastatic breast cancer.

Navigating Reductions in Force and Reorganization

Over the past year, her spouse survived layoffs at the Department of Transportation. By May, thousands of employees had left the agency, due to those reductions as well as employees retiring and people quitting.

Per a memo on its plan for staff reductions and reorganization, the agency estimated that by December 31, 2025, its workforce would be cut by approximately 20 percent from levels at the start of the year.

This would correlate to more than 10,000 fewer employees at the department. Government workforce reductions have exceeded goals, with hundreds of thousands of workers exiting the government and a small number of new hires.

"We were concerned about layoffs. It is clear given the way this administration functions, that this is always on the table because they ignore the law," Michaela explained.

She added 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 U.S. government began, lasting for over a month, the most protracted in American history.

Michaela and her husband marked their 18th anniversary in early November, during the ongoing closure, but remained home because they couldn’t afford to go out to eat due to her husband not being paid for several weeks.

She is relieved the government shutdown concluded as she was anxious over healthcare costs, but rues the increases in healthcare 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, 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 becoming despondent," she recounted.

Feeling Targeted

"We’re just one drop in a ocean of countless 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 just ransacking and managing the government and viewing federal workers like they are enemies, that they are lesser citizens, and that they deserve targeting. And I take personal offense to that," she expressed.

A Looming Threat

Her current concern is a potential looming federal closure on 30 January 2026, with the bulk of federal funds set to lapse again absent a long-term deal.

"The temporary funding measure is up for renewal again at the end of January and I am thinking this is going to happen all over again. We’ve been through multiple closures. This by far was the most severe," she said. "I am already fighting a serious disease, and I don’t know what the future holds. I could be here for a couple more years. I might live for 10 years."