In early May 2025, Michaela felt a sharp pain shoot from her hip as she leaned down to water some plants. She collapsed and couldn’t get back up.
Her husband summoned emergency services and she spent the night in a hospital, where, in her late fifties, doctors discovered she had a mass on her spine. It was metastatic breast cancer.
"There was no indication this would occur, and I was heartbroken. Initially, I wasn't fully aware 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 any family. We are without children of our own."
When Trump won the 2024 election, Michaela’s husband prepared to be forced to return to in-person work at the DOT in Washington DC. He had worked remotely since the beginning of the global 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 telework arrangements. The office of personnel management instructed agencies to enact the order despite collective bargaining contracts.
"My spouse is a long-time employee 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 5 a.m. in the morning and getting home at seven at night," she stated. Her real name is withheld as her husband still works at the agency and fears reprisal.
During the summer, she underwent an operation, a laminectomy. A few weeks after that, she had stereotactic radiation, and is now taking an oncology regimen called Kisqali and hormone therapy.
She had stage one 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 Reorganization
Throughout this year, her spouse survived layoffs at the DOT. By spring, nearly 2,800 employees had departed the department, due to the cuts as well as employees retiring and people quitting.
According to a memo on its plan for reductions in force and reorganization, the agency estimated that by the end of next year, its staffing levels would be reduced by approximately 20 percent from levels at the start of the year.
This translates to more than 10,000 reduced staff at the Department of Transportation. Government workforce reductions have surpassed targets, with hundreds of thousands of workers exiting the government and a small number of replacements.
"We were concerned about layoffs. We understand given the way this administration functions, that this is always on the table because they ignore the law," Michaela explained.
She noted that jobs for specializations at the agency are difficult to find and private firms often want to pay lower salaries.
Facing a Government Shutdown
As the Department of Transportation was shedding employees, on October 1st a closure of the federal government began, continuing for over a month, the most protracted in US history.
The couple celebrated their 18th anniversary in early November, while the shutdown continued, but stayed at home because they couldn’t afford to dine out due to her husband going without a paycheck for several weeks.
She is relieved 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 ACA exchanges.
"I felt hopeless. I felt impoverished. I was astonished, frightened, and I observed my husband and there were a few times where he sat at his desk and he gazed 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 the people who are making all the decisions are seemingly dismantling and leading the government and treating federal workers like they are enemies, that they are not citizens, and that they deserve targeting. I find this personally offensive to that," she said.
Future Uncertainty
She is now worried is another possible looming government shutdown in late January, with the bulk of government funding set to lapse again without a permanent agreement.
"The temporary funding measure 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 multiple closures. This by far was the worst," she said. "I am already fighting a serious disease, and I don’t know where it’s going to take me. I could be here for a couple more years. I might live for 10 years."
