She's Battling Advanced Cancer. Her Spouse Works as a Federal Worker. Can She Endure This Political Era?

During the spring of 2025, Michaela experienced a sudden, stabbing ache radiate from her hip while she bent over to tend to her garden. Then she fell over and was unable to rise.

Her husband summoned emergency services and she was admitted in a hospital, where, in her late fifties, doctors discovered she had a tumor on her spine. The diagnosis was metastatic breast cancer.

"I had no warning this would occur, and I was devastated. Initially, I wasn't fully aware that it was a recurrence of my breast cancer which had spread to my spine, a location is common for it to go," she explained.

"Should I pass away early, I cannot bear the thought of leaving [my husband] here. We really don’t have little family. We don’t have any children."

When Trump won the 2024 presidential election, her spouse prepared to be forced back into the office at the DOT in Washington DC. He had been teleworking since the onset 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. Federal personnel officials instructed agencies to implement the policy despite existing union agreements.

"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 departed the house at 5 a.m. in the morning and getting home at seven at night," she stated. Her identity is protected as her husband still works at the agency and fears retaliation.

During the summer, Michaela had surgery, a laminectomy. Shortly following that, she had targeted radiation therapy, and is now taking an cancer treatment called Kisqali and hormone therapy.

She had stage one breast cancer a decade ago, but was able to treat it, due to early detection, with a surgical procedure, radiation, chemotherapy and hormonal medication. Through regular checkups, she stayed on top of it, before her latest diagnosis of advanced metastatic breast cancer.

Surviving Reductions in Force and Restructuring

Throughout this year, Michaela’s husband survived layoffs at the DOT. By May, nearly 2,800 employees had left the agency, due to those reductions as well as retirements and people quitting.

According to a memo on its plan for reductions in force and restructuring, the agency estimated that by December 31, 2025, its staffing levels would be cut by one-fifth from earlier levels.

This translates to over ten thousand fewer employees at the department. Government workforce reductions have exceeded goals, with hundreds of thousands of workers exiting the federal government and only a fraction of new hires.

"We were concerned about layoffs. We understand based on the way this administration functions, that this remains a constant threat because policies disregard established rules," Michaela explained.

She noted that specialized positions at the agency are hard to come by and private firms often want to pay lower salaries.

Enduring a Government Shutdown

While the DOT was losing staff, on 1 October a shutdown of the federal government began, lasting for over a month, the longest in American history.

Michaela and her husband celebrated their 18th wedding anniversary in the fall, while the shutdown continued, but stayed at home because finances prevented them to dine out due to her husband going without a paycheck for several weeks.

She is relieved the government shutdown concluded as she was worried about healthcare costs, but rues the rising costs in insurance premiums she and her husband have experienced, and for those who rely on healthcare through the Affordable Care Act marketplace.

"I felt hopeless. I felt impoverished. I felt flabbergasted, frightened, and I observed my husband and on several occasions where he was sitting at his desk and he gazed out the window. He was getting depressed," she said.

A Personal Offense

"We are merely one example in a bucket of countless people who strive diligently to get where they are, who attempt to do the correct thing, and those who are setting policy are just ransacking and leading the government and treating government employees 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

Her current concern is another possible approaching government shutdown on 30 January 2026, with the vast majority of federal funds set to expire again absent a long-term deal.

"The continuing resolution is up for renewal again at the end of January and I am thinking this will repeat once more. We’ve been through multiple closures. This by far was the worst," she said. "I’m already battling a life-threatening illness, and I am uncertain what the future holds. I may survive for another year or two. I might live for 10 years."