Living in the Shadow of the DOGE Axe
This is a story that can’t be told but must be heard.
We met at a trendy lunch spot in Bucktown. Let’s call him Joe. More on his anonymity in a moment. He was punctual, clean-cut and polite and struck me as someone who might make his bed with hospital corners. I noticed his eyes had a quiet intensity, with a tinge of worry beyond his years.
Joe is a federal employee whose office has been impacted by the DOGE mass firings.
Joe always wanted to be a civil servant
A federal worker takes a special kind of oath to the public to be nonpartisan so that they can serve free from political influence. They are not allowed to use their position or influence for political purposes. For that reason, Joe and his agency will be anonymous. So far he has retained his job, but he doesn’t know for how long and lives with that uncertainty every day.
Joe never thought he’d be one to speak out. Even during Donald Trump’s first presidency, when his colleagues and mentees would express concern about the impact of certain policies, he would counsel them to stay out of it, focus on the job and stay the course. He felt there was an order to our government that would provide the checks and balances. He respected the need to be nonpartisan and to serve all of the people.
“This time, it’s different,” Joe tells me.
Why? I ask. “This time I see real damage happening to our country and to real people,” he says. “Now we are under a real threat.” He wants to be part of the movement toward what is right and feels he has to speak up. Telling his story is a huge leap, clearly outside his comfort zone.
Joe tells me he loves his job, even with its demands. To get to his current position, Joe went through a decade of education, earning an advanced degree. When he was interviewing, it took nine months of vetting his reliability before he was hired. He typically works 10-hour days and weekends, and has business calls at all hours to accommodate time zones around the world. A private sector job might pay more.
When asked to describe his team, Joe tells me, “We are the quiet people, the ones doing big things that have a big impact on the well-being of our country and people’s lives. We don’t make the headlines or take the credit. But we are all still very proud of the work we do.”
The new administration is making it harder on so many levels. There’s the damage to relationships with allies and the roller coaster of uncertainty of the markets. He has seen his organization gutted. He tells me about some of the people he’s mentored, effective early-career professionals who were let go with less than 24 hours’ notice, toward the end of a two-year probationary period.
“We are dedicated to serve the public; we want to serve the country and community,” he says. “This (chaos) is not what we signed up for.”
Joe worries about his ability to support his family if he loses his job. He ponders if the cuts will stop now that Elon Musk seemingly has gotten out of DOGE. Only time will tell, we agree. In the meantime, he hopes that speaking up will help make a difference.
Add Your Voice to the Story!
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Do you want to give insight into what it’s like, or how you’re dealing with the assault on federal workers?
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