The Real World: Feds

This is a true story about Americans picked to work as civil servants and have their lives devoted to providing many functions to keep America running smoothly only to find out what happens when people stop being polite and start getting real deep into idiocy.

Unfortunately, for many of us, April 1st was an April Fool’s Day we’ll never forget as it marked a really dark day in the history of public health when thousands of Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) workers received Reduction in Force (RIF) notices.  I am a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) employee, and  I am among the many DHHS employees across the country who received this notice, effectively ending my career of nearly 22 years with the FDA.  Keep reading if you care to zoom in for my story.

You’ve probably heard or read about all of the cuts of federal employees in order to save taxpayer dollars through eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse in many agencies.  Fun fact: federal employees’ salaries account for less than 5% of the entire federal budget.  Everyone seems to have a lot of opinions on government spending cuts (as you should— they’re our tax dollars), and this is simply my perspective as someone directly affected by this who has actually worked as a so-called federalgovernment bureaucrat.

I started as a federal employee in 2003 after working in the private sector as a recruiter for a staffing agency for my first 3 years out of college.  I was generally happy in that job, but I worked 60+ hours a week and really wanted something  that would allow me more of a work/life balance and stability.

The FDA hiring process was slow.  It took about 6 months from applying and interviewing to actually starting; but in July 2003, I started my career as a fed.  Throughout my time at FDA, I served in a variety of roles, each with increasing responsibility all the way up to and including supervising a staff of around 10 people.  Since I am not a scientist or healthcare professional, the roles that fit my skillset were all analytical and/or administrative in nature.  We’re the people who support all of the medical professionals and scientists’ work needs, so they can spend their time reviewing and approving drugs and devices, etc., to keep the American public safe.

In December 2022, I reassigned to a Lead Workforce Planning Specialist position at the Center for Devices and Radiological Health.  It was a dream position of sorts as it allowed me to solely focus on Human Resources.  Our staff worked on hiring actions for leadership roles as well as Physicians and Dentists and technical experts throughout the Center all under a special, Congressionally mandated hiring authority called Title 21 CURES.  Post-pandemic, the position remained remote as the nature of our work wasn’t such that we needed to be in an office to complete it.  Okay, so I know now that some of the American public has very strong opinions on the where feds get their work done, so I must note that throughout my particular organization, we met and exceeded our yearly hiring goals each year.  We were extremely productive with leadership that held us accountable to meet and achieve and/or exceed a range of goals laid out for us in our yearly performance plans. Yes, just like the private sector, we have a hierarchy with performance plans filled with objectives and goals.  It’s been frustrating to read and hear comments about a billionaire finally holding us accountable, because apparently some people have this notion that we were self-supervised and just running amuck each day barely doing anything.

To this point, if one were actually interested in finding and cutting fraud, waste, and abuse, it would easily be found through conducting data-driven analysis.  However, in addressing federal employees’ workplaces and in making cuts to the federal workforce, the current administration has taken a one size fits all approach to both remote work and to personnel cuts.  In a normal RIF, veterans and people with more than 20 years in the fed would likely be spared.  Further, Agencies would typically prepare a RIF as they would best know their needs to be able to achieve their mission and future goals. This one was done by the Department.  The RIF was also tied to a re-organization; however, re-organizations are subject to Congressional approval which takes time.  To put it in layperson terms, it’s putting the proverbial cart before the horse.

So let’s get into the darker side of this.  Clearly, feds have been painted as villains so let’s break it down.  Is there waste in the fed?  Yes, like any workplace, there are people who try to do the bare minimum to get their paycheck.  I spent many years in some of my roles covering the work of others who had attendance issues or just weren’t capable of getting the work done.  I never blamed them though.  I blamed the supervisors for not holding them accountable.  Was there fraud?  Maybe.  I once had a supervisor who also ran a real estate business and hired many of their clients and friends with questionable qualifications to work for them in the fed.  Also of note, I did report this, but nothing was done.  Is there abuse?  Yes, there are employees who took long breaks for breakfast and lunch and wandered around talking to people all day when we were in the office.

Conversely, in my experience, the vast majority of people want to do the best work possible and are committed to going above and beyond the call of duty.  Throughout my tenure, so many were willing to work on their own time to finish assignments and projects.  These people are knowledgeable and dedicated to the public health mission.  It’s not just a job.  It’s a career.  They take it very seriously.

As one such person who had essentially grown up in the world of public health in FDA, on Tuesday, April 1, 2025, with one e-mail message, everything changed.  I happened to check my e-mail before heading to the office.  I typically do not do this.  On this day, it was a good thing I did.  I received a message from someone in HHS (just a name, no title or contact info. included in the e-mail signature) informing me that I was being RIF’d and would be placed on immediate paid administrative leave through June 2.  Additionally, my access to my office building had already been revoked.  Good thing I checked my messages, right?  Otherwise, I would have shown up after my nearly a 1/2 hour commute only to learn all of this from Security at the building entrance.

A few minutes later, I received another message greeting me with “Good evening” despite it being just before 6AM and informing me that I should continue working—remotely now—until my role has been transitioned.  How’s that for mixed messaging?  Since the administration took effect, they’ve been touting remote work as the worst thing ever.  Remember, we’re lounging in our bubble baths or not even home. Obviously, we’re playing tennis or on the golf course, right?  (POTUS’ thoughts on the topic) Suddenly, remote work is great again.

As the day progressed, I learned that my entire organization was gone.  Past colleagues and past organizations from my time in FDA were all also eliminated.

Since this administration took over, it’s been nothing short of psychological warfare from harassing e-mails from the Office of Personnel Management which was hijacked by the Department of Government Efficiency to the disparaging comments directly from the POTUS talking about feds being low productivity people who never show up for work.

One week after learning my nearly 22-year career is over, the dust is starting to settle.  There’s still confusion as to whether or not my colleagues and I are supposed to be working to transition our roles and what does that even look like?  To our knowledge, there’s really no one left.  We can’t even retrieve our personal belongings in our offices, since building access was immediately revoked.  Essentially, there’s been a blackout on communications with us.

Even after all of this and through our own fears of our now uncertain futures, the one most commonly asked question amongst ourselves has been: what will happen to the scientists still at FDA?  They have no support whatsoever.  How will they continue to effectively do their jobs?

Through all of these senseless acts and through these unprecedented times, it’s least surprising that we would be worried about the mission above all else. I guess at our core that’s who we are: public servants.