Daunting Circumstances

I was a Project Specialist with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

I started back in February 2021, after about eight years of applying for various federal jobs. Holding a career in the federal government has been a longtime dream of mine, so when I passed the second-round interview and got a tentative job offer, I was thrilled. Going through the background checks and application process, to getting a final job offer, was quite an experience. I started wet behind the ears, overwhelmed with all the acronyms, but more than willing to learn. As the years progressed, I gained a lot of experience and ultimately, confidence. I built rapport with my team and other departments we served. I worked tirelessly to ensure supplies were delivered, travels arranged to the satisfaction of staff, property being accounted for in full, and ensured staff members' timesheets were up to date. I, along with my colleagues, had to walk a fine line between satisfying people's needs/wants, while aligning with agency policies and the law. During the process, I became friends with a number of staff and had a lot of great shared moments and humanity. Colleagues and direct supervisors were more than willing to accommodate my deafness, and we worked wonderfully together as a team.

During my career here at FDA, I was diagnosed with incurable Stage 4 colon cancer, which was a shock, especially in my 30s. I underwent surgery and then treatments (still am). I was given a 5–10-year timeframe to live by my oncologist. Despite this very daunting and heavy news, I continued to dedicate my time to the FDA, making sure I did the best I could. I got shining performance reviews every year, and was always happy to jump in and help train new staff. No, I wasn't perfect—who is?—but I certainly gave my all. I truly enjoyed working at the FDA and felt like I had found my niche. I belonged. I was thriving, and I loved my job and the people I was working with.

On April 1, all this was ripped out from under me abruptly with a Reduction in Force (RIF) notice, along with my department. Now I'm left hobbling and having to worry about multiple issues: how I will support myself (rent is extremely expensive in the DC area), insurance/access to life-saving treatments, and entering the job market with a strike against me—being deaf. It's extremely hard finding a job as a deaf person, even in 2025, because discrimination sadly still runs rampant. The federal government acted as a welcoming bastion of security and stability for many deaf people, what with hiring programs such as Schedule A and guaranteed accommodations.

This is a very sad time for me, and frankly, I feel like the last four years were a lie. With an abrupt stroke of pen/email, my job was gone. Just like that. My dream career, my stability, my ability to live and participate in society without worrying about bills, has pretty much vanished. What's next for me, I wonder.  

—Anonymous

Safety and Security

I work as a Paralegal for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, better known as the FDIC. My job is to make sure the American people’s money is safe in a bank. If a bank shuts down or fails, the money is safe because it is insured by the FDIC. The American people put their trust in the FDIC to keep their money safe and secure. In the past, when a bank failed, a hotline was created for the American public to call and ask questions about the security of their money. Questions such as “Is my money safe? Will the bank reopen? Do I have to move my money somewhere else?” I have answered that hotline during the evenings and weekends. I have answered many questions and have reassured the American public that they can have trust in the banks because of the FDIC. Insurance adds protection, which helps the American public have faith in the banks. This administration has made federal workers the enemy by convincing the American public that we are unnecessary. Every day, federal workers are being illegally fired, unions are being destroyed, union contracts are being ignored, and government protections are being removed. Working for the American people has been an honor. Without my job, the American public will no longer trust the banks to keep their money safe. The FDIC is the security that keeps both the banks and the American public safe.

—Anonymous

April Fools’

I was fired on April Fools’ Day, but unfortunately, the joke’s on America because I provided vital services to help our country be more informed and healthier. I conducted research that helped make the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) communications about medical devices clearer and more understandable to the public. RFK Jr. said they fired no scientists—well, I am a fired social scientist. I helped make sure crucial communications about recalls for medical devices like pacemakers and CPAP machines were clearer and better understood by the public. Without this vital service, the public will be forced to parse out technical, confusing, sometimes seemingly contradictory information on their own. Our scientists try to explain things as clearly as they can, but they are so immersed in their own field, they don’t understand how the public won’t get the finer details of what they want to share. 

As for how my layoff has affected my family, it has been incredibly stressful. Not only the loss of my income for daily living for our family of four, including two young children, but it has also been increasingly hard to be a present parent as I underwent near daily torment at the hands of the administration. We also rely on my health insurance, which I will no longer have. And, I have been increasingly stressed by what the loss of my, and my colleagues’ vital roles means for the health of the nation and my own family. Our country is less safe because we are missing these crucial services—from the loss of communicators to the loss of food inspectors, the public is already less informed and our food supply less safe today than it was just a few months ago.

—Anonymous