In early May 2025, Michaela experienced a sudden, stabbing ache radiate from her hip as she leaned down to tend to her garden. Then she fell over and couldn’t get back up.
Her husband called an ambulance and she was admitted in a hospital, where, at 57, doctors discovered 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 wasn't fully aware that it was a recurrence of my breast cancer that had metastasized to my spine, a location was a common place for it to go," she said.
"If I were to die prematurely, I cannot bear the thought of leaving [my husband] here. We really don’t have any family. We are without children of our own."
When Trump won the 2024 election, her spouse braced to be mandated to return to in-person work at the DOT in Washington DC. He had been teleworking since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, from their home outside Baltimore.
On the inaugural day in office in January, he issued requiring all federal agencies terminate all remote work arrangements. Federal personnel officials instructed agencies to enact the order despite existing union agreements.
"My husband’s a veteran in government service, and he is highly skilled in his field. He’s been doing this for 20 years now, so it is draining for him. We are in our fifties. He departed the house at 5 a.m. 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 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 early-stage breast cancer in 2014, but successfully treated it, due to early detection, with a partial lumpectomy, radiation, chemotherapy and tamoxifen. Through regular checkups, she managed her health, prior to her recent diagnosis of stage four metastatic breast cancer.
Navigating Reductions in Force and Restructuring
Throughout this year, Michaela’s husband survived reductions in force at the Department of Transportation. By spring, nearly 2,800 employees had left the agency, due to the cuts as well as employees retiring and people quitting.
Per a internal document on its plan for staff reductions 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 fewer employees at the Department of Transportation. Federal employee cuts have exceeded goals, with hundreds of thousands of workers leaving the government and a small number of replacements.
"We were worried about layoffs. It is clear based on the way things are operating, that this is always on the table because policies disregard the law," she elaborated.
She noted that specialized positions at the agency are difficult to find and private firms often want to pay reduced wages.
Enduring a Federal Closure
As the Department of Transportation was shedding employees, on 1 October a shutdown of the U.S. government began, lasting for 43 days, the longest in US history.
The couple marked their 18th wedding anniversary in the fall, while the shutdown continued, but stayed at home because they couldn’t afford to go out to eat due to her husband going without a paycheck for several weeks.
She is relieved the federal closure concluded as she was anxious over healthcare costs, but rues the rising costs in insurance premiums she and her husband have experienced, and for those who rely on insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplace.
"I felt desperate. I felt impoverished. I felt flabbergasted, 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.
A Personal Offense
"We are merely one example in a ocean of countless people who work so hard to get where they are, who attempt to do the right thing, and those who are setting policy are just ransacking and leading the government and viewing federal workers like they are enemies, that they are lesser 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 on 30 January 2026, with the vast majority of federal funds set to expire again without a long-term deal.
"The continuing resolution is up for renewal again on the 30th of January and I am thinking this is going to happen once more. 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 what the future holds. I could be here for a couple more years. I could be here for a decade."
