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In early May 2025, Michaela felt a sharp pain shoot from her hip while she bent over to water some plants. Then she fell over and couldn’t get back up.

Her spouse called an ambulance and she was admitted in a hospital, where, in her late fifties, she found out she had a tumor on her spine. It was metastatic breast cancer.

"I had no warning that that was going to happen, 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, which I learned is common for it to go," she explained.

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

Following the victory in the 2024 presidential election, her spouse braced to be mandated back into the office at the Department of Transportation in Washington DC. He had been teleworking since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, from their home outside Baltimore.

On Trump’s first day in office in January, an executive order was signed demanding all federal agencies end all telework arrangements. The office of personnel management directed agencies to implement the policy despite existing union agreements.

"My husband’s a veteran with the administration, and he is highly skilled in his field. He has worked for two decades now, so it is draining for him. We’re in our 50s. He was leaving the house at 5 a.m. in the morning and returning at 7 p.m. at night," Michaela said. Her real name is withheld as her husband remains employed at the Department of Transportation and fears retaliation.

In July, she underwent an operation, a laminectomy. Shortly following that, she had targeted radiation therapy, and is now taking an oncology regimen called Kisqali and hormone therapy.

She was previously diagnosed with stage one breast cancer a decade ago, but successfully treated it, due to early detection, with a partial lumpectomy, radiation, chemotherapy and hormonal medication. Through regular checkups, she stayed on top of it, prior to her recent diagnosis of advanced metastatic breast cancer.

Surviving Reductions in Force and Reorganization

Over the past year, Michaela’s husband survived layoffs at the DOT. By May, thousands of employees had left the agency, due to the cuts as well as retirements and people quitting.

Per a internal document on its plan for staff reductions and reorganization, the agency estimated that by December 31, 2025, its workforce would be reduced by one-fifth from earlier levels.

This would correlate to over ten thousand fewer employees at the Department of Transportation. Federal employee cuts have surpassed targets, with a significant number of workers exiting the federal government and only a fraction of replacements.

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

She noted that specialized positions at the agency are difficult to find and private firms often want to pay reduced wages.

Facing a Government Shutdown

While the DOT was losing staff, on October 1st a closure of the federal government began, lasting for 43 days, the longest in American history.

The couple celebrated their 18th wedding anniversary in early November, while the shutdown continued, but stayed at home because finances prevented them to dine out due to her husband not being paid for multiple weeks.

She is thankful the federal closure concluded as she was worried about healthcare costs, but laments the increases in insurance 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 impoverished. I felt flabbergasted, frightened, and I observed my husband and on several occasions where he sat at his desk and he was just staring out the window. He was becoming despondent," she said.

Feeling Targeted

"We are merely one example in a bucket of millions people who strive diligently to achieve their positions, who attempt to do the right thing, and those who are making all the decisions are just ransacking and managing the government and viewing federal workers like adversaries, that they are not citizens, and that they should be attacked. And I take personal offense to that," she said.

A Looming Threat

She is now worried is a potential approaching federal closure in late January, with the vast majority of government funding set to expire again without a permanent agreement.

"The continuing resolution is up for renewal 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 said. "I am already fighting a serious disease, and I am uncertain where it’s going to take me. I may survive for a couple more years. I might live for 10 years."