Wake me up from this nightmare

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are one fed and another in a field that will be affected. Our oldest is a senior and did really well with applications and merit, but it’s not enough to go to any of the distant states. They will have to stay in state. I don’t mind so much for myself and I’d take whatever job as needed, but this is going to crush the upcoming generation.

I’m sorry but having to stay in state for college is not a hardship. It’s pretty privileged to spend more than necessary for higher education just because you want to. If your kid is going to be crushed by this life is going to be really difficult for your child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just want to say people outside the DMV do care. I am hundreds of miles from DC and both wary and worried. But, of course, you and your neighbors and colleagues are more directly affected.

+1 and not all federal workers are in the DMV.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I am sorry. But this is only week #4. At least 204 more weeks to go or even longer. We feel the same way like you. Everywhere I go, I always wondering if the person stands next to me voted for him ?

UGH. 204 weeks to go!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m very sorry OP. And also, your situation sounds pretty good to me. I’m a single mom fed with a brain tumor. I need my health insurance and am not sure I can start a new job right now. Will we just be homeless?

I’m so, so sorry. I hope in the near future someone establishes some means for the community to support impacted feds, particularly those in your type of situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m very sorry OP. And also, your situation sounds pretty good to me. I’m a single mom fed with a brain tumor. I need my health insurance and am not sure I can start a new job right now. Will we just be homeless?

So sorry 😞

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I cannot believe that we may be facing double unemployment. I'm a federal contractor and my spouse is a fed. At the end of 2024 we both received promotions and were doing well and happy in our careers. My company is crumbling around me with contracts being terminated and layoffs and all I can do is watch. We are in our 40s with two young kids and a mortgage. We are financially conservative and can live on one income comfortably without childcare, which has always given us piece of mind. However, we are now in what would usually seem like a remote possibility that both of us would be unemployed at the same time for a potentially extended period. I cannot focus on anything--my work, my kids. I'm depressed just thinking about how happy everyone was in December and now the future looks bleak and uncertain. My kids have no idea what is going on.

I really wish someone would shine a light on what is going on, because we can't be the only ones. DOGE has not even started with NIH, FDA, and SAMSHA and RIFs--Montgomery County is going to a disaster. I think the rest of the country doesn't care.

This is so stressful and I'm sorry you're going through it. I hate what Trump and Musk are doing, and I'm so scared for our country. And if they manage to layoff and cut as many workers and contracts as they want, our family faces a similar risk since our jobs rely on that spending.

I will just say that many communities in the US have been decimated in recent history by cuts in manufacturing jobs since the 80s and most recently during the Great Recession. Obama was in office for 8 years and those manufacturing jobs did not recover. I think we need to be sensitive to that when we talk about others not caring about Montgomery County.

Also - Montgomery County Government is hiring! Look into their budget office for jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I cannot believe that we may be facing double unemployment. I'm a federal contractor and my spouse is a fed. At the end of 2024 we both received promotions and were doing well and happy in our careers. My company is crumbling around me with contracts being terminated and layoffs and all I can do is watch. We are in our 40s with two young kids and a mortgage. We are financially conservative and can live on one income comfortably without childcare, which has always given us piece of mind. However, we are now in what would usually seem like a remote possibility that both of us would be unemployed at the same time for a potentially extended period. I cannot focus on anything--my work, my kids. I'm depressed just thinking about how happy everyone was in December and now the future looks bleak and uncertain. My kids have no idea what is going on.

I really wish someone would shine a light on what is going on, because we can't be the only ones. DOGE has not even started with NIH, FDA, and SAMSHA and RIFs--Montgomery County is going to a disaster. I think the rest of the country doesn't care.

This is so stressful and I'm sorry you're going through it. I hate what Trump and Musk are doing, and I'm so scared for our country. And if they manage to layoff and cut as many workers and contracts as they want, our family faces a similar risk since our jobs rely on that spending.

I will just say that many communities in the US have been decimated in recent history by cuts in manufacturing jobs since the 80s and most recently during the Great Recession. Obama was in office for 8 years and those manufacturing jobs did not recover. I think we need to be sensitive to that when we talk about others not caring about Montgomery County.

Also - Montgomery County Government is hiring! Look into their budget office for jobs.

Re: Great Recession, (1) there were so many bailouts and jobs programs and retraining programs, to say nothing of later efforts like the IRA that have been great for manufacturing, and (2) the 2008 crash was caused by the kind of deregulation that is happening again now.
We are trapped in this cycle of Republican policies crashing the economy, the government bailing them out, and then people complaining about the government not doing enough so let's fire them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I cannot believe that we may be facing double unemployment. I'm a federal contractor and my spouse is a fed. At the end of 2024 we both received promotions and were doing well and happy in our careers. My company is crumbling around me with contracts being terminated and layoffs and all I can do is watch. We are in our 40s with two young kids and a mortgage. We are financially conservative and can live on one income comfortably without childcare, which has always given us piece of mind. However, we are now in what would usually seem like a remote possibility that both of us would be unemployed at the same time for a potentially extended period. I cannot focus on anything--my work, my kids. I'm depressed just thinking about how happy everyone was in December and now the future looks bleak and uncertain. My kids have no idea what is going on.

I really wish someone would shine a light on what is going on, because we can't be the only ones. DOGE has not even started with NIH, FDA, and SAMSHA and RIFs--Montgomery County is going to a disaster. I think the rest of the country doesn't care.

This is so stressful and I'm sorry you're going through it. I hate what Trump and Musk are doing, and I'm so scared for our country. And if they manage to layoff and cut as many workers and contracts as they want, our family faces a similar risk since our jobs rely on that spending.

I will just say that many communities in the US have been decimated in recent history by cuts in manufacturing jobs since the 80s and most recently during the Great Recession. Obama was in office for 8 years and those manufacturing jobs did not recover. I think we need to be sensitive to that when we talk about others not caring about Montgomery County.

Also - Montgomery County Government is hiring! Look into their budget office for jobs.

Re: Great Recession, (1) there were so many bailouts and jobs programs and retraining programs, to say nothing of later efforts like the IRA that have been great for manufacturing, and (2) the 2008 crash was caused by the kind of deregulation that is happening again now.
We are trapped in this cycle of Republican policies crashing the economy, the government bailing them out, and then people complaining about the government not doing enough so let's fire them.

Manufacturing jobs did not recover.

I'm not saying Obama didn't do anything. But the reality is that none of these government programs address the root causes of the loss of jobs in the manufacturing sector, which was driven by globalization that both Republicans and Democrats supported. And I don't know what the answer is, nor am I equating that with Trump and Musk's illegal actions, but if we are talking about elected officials making decisions that decimate communities and then saying nobody cares about the risk to our community - we need to be sensitive to that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am so, so sorry OP. It is indeed a nightmare (fellow contractor here). And what makes it worse is that they are intentionally doing this to inflict pain. This is not a situation (like in some private company layoffs) where they simply have to make business decisions.

Everyone keeps saying this on here. Yes there are some quotes with officials/politicians saying they want to inflict pain. But the main point is to reduce the size of the government and save money.

No it's not. There's no accountability for what they are doing. It's posted on X for Christs sake. It's all a sham and you all are getting the wool.pulled over because you think some tech bro who never invented anything in his life and has taken BILLIONS from the government is somehow doing any of this for anyone other than himself. You and he are not equals. You are his means to more money and power.

Everyone's fine with reducing the size of the government until it comes from them and theirs. You'll learn. Even the small business owners. Even the umc whites. Even the farmers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I cannot believe that we may be facing double unemployment. I'm a federal contractor and my spouse is a fed. At the end of 2024 we both received promotions and were doing well and happy in our careers. My company is crumbling around me with contracts being terminated and layoffs and all I can do is watch. We are in our 40s with two young kids and a mortgage. We are financially conservative and can live on one income comfortably without childcare, which has always given us piece of mind. However, we are now in what would usually seem like a remote possibility that both of us would be unemployed at the same time for a potentially extended period. I cannot focus on anything--my work, my kids. I'm depressed just thinking about how happy everyone was in December and now the future looks bleak and uncertain. My kids have no idea what is going on.

I really wish someone would shine a light on what is going on, because we can't be the only ones. DOGE has not even started with NIH, FDA, and SAMSHA and RIFs--Montgomery County is going to a disaster. I think the rest of the country doesn't care.

I am so, so sorry. It is a nightmare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am so, so sorry OP. It is indeed a nightmare (fellow contractor here). And what makes it worse is that they are intentionally doing this to inflict pain. This is not a situation (like in some private company layoffs) where they simply have to make business decisions.

Everyone keeps saying this on here. Yes there are some quotes with officials/politicians saying they want to inflict pain. But the main point is to reduce the size of the government and save money.

Salaries and benefits of all federal workers total 5% of the total federal budget.

People keep writing this as if it’s clever. It’s not just the workforce. It’s all the programs and spending associated with them that they’ll also determine is unneeded. To focus solely on employee cost in all this is disingenuous. If you are going to disagree, at least get correct what they plan to eliminate.

Then cut the programs through the legally-allowed process: the budget. It makes no sense to indiscriminately drive people away from federal employment regardless of whether or not they have critical skills in areas Congress wants to fund.

Stop acting like that too would have been acceptable.

I think a lot more people would be willing to do cuts to the government spending programs if they weren't also talking out the other side of their mouth about tax cuts you either have a deficit or you don't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I cannot believe that we may be facing double unemployment. I'm a federal contractor and my spouse is a fed. At the end of 2024 we both received promotions and were doing well and happy in our careers. My company is crumbling around me with contracts being terminated and layoffs and all I can do is watch. We are in our 40s with two young kids and a mortgage. We are financially conservative and can live on one income comfortably without childcare, which has always given us piece of mind. However, we are now in what would usually seem like a remote possibility that both of us would be unemployed at the same time for a potentially extended period. I cannot focus on anything--my work, my kids. I'm depressed just thinking about how happy everyone was in December and now the future looks bleak and uncertain. My kids have no idea what is going on.

I really wish someone would shine a light on what is going on, because we can't be the only ones. DOGE has not even started with NIH, FDA, and SAMSHA and RIFs--Montgomery County is going to a disaster. I think the rest of the country doesn't care.

This is so stressful and I'm sorry you're going through it. I hate what Trump and Musk are doing, and I'm so scared for our country. And if they manage to layoff and cut as many workers and contracts as they want, our family faces a similar risk since our jobs rely on that spending.

I will just say that many communities in the US have been decimated in recent history by cuts in manufacturing jobs since the 80s and most recently during the Great Recession. Obama was in office for 8 years and those manufacturing jobs did not recover. I think we need to be sensitive to that when we talk about others not caring about Montgomery County.

Also - Montgomery County Government is hiring! Look into their budget office for jobs.

Re: Great Recession, (1) there were so many bailouts and jobs programs and retraining programs, to say nothing of later efforts like the IRA that have been great for manufacturing, and (2) the 2008 crash was caused by the kind of deregulation that is happening again now.
We are trapped in this cycle of Republican policies crashing the economy, the government bailing them out, and then people complaining about the government not doing enough so let's fire them.

Manufacturing jobs did not recover.

I'm not saying Obama didn't do anything. But the reality is that none of these government programs address the root causes of the loss of jobs in the manufacturing sector, which was driven by globalization that both Republicans and Democrats supported. And I don't know what the answer is, nor am I equating that with Trump and Musk's illegal actions, but if we are talking about elected officials making decisions that decimate communities and then saying nobody cares about the risk to our community - we need to be sensitive to that.

Multiple government bailouts and recovery plans is, by definition, people caring.
I don't see any congressional program to train fired feds to be solar technicians or electricians, like we had for those communities.

It matters because this tone policing is part of the problem. Feds are supposed to shut up and take it on the chin because we always have before, and our elected reps are used to us doing that so they are indifferent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I cannot believe that we may be facing double unemployment. I'm a federal contractor and my spouse is a fed. At the end of 2024 we both received promotions and were doing well and happy in our careers. My company is crumbling around me with contracts being terminated and layoffs and all I can do is watch. We are in our 40s with two young kids and a mortgage. We are financially conservative and can live on one income comfortably without childcare, which has always given us piece of mind. However, we are now in what would usually seem like a remote possibility that both of us would be unemployed at the same time for a potentially extended period. I cannot focus on anything--my work, my kids. I'm depressed just thinking about how happy everyone was in December and now the future looks bleak and uncertain. My kids have no idea what is going on.

I really wish someone would shine a light on what is going on, because we can't be the only ones. DOGE has not even started with NIH, FDA, and SAMSHA and RIFs--Montgomery County is going to a disaster. I think the rest of the country doesn't care.

This is so stressful and I'm sorry you're going through it. I hate what Trump and Musk are doing, and I'm so scared for our country. And if they manage to layoff and cut as many workers and contracts as they want, our family faces a similar risk since our jobs rely on that spending.

I will just say that many communities in the US have been decimated in recent history by cuts in manufacturing jobs since the 80s and most recently during the Great Recession. Obama was in office for 8 years and those manufacturing jobs did not recover. I think we need to be sensitive to that when we talk about others not caring about Montgomery County.

Also - Montgomery County Government is hiring! Look into their budget office for jobs.

Re: Great Recession, (1) there were so many bailouts and jobs programs and retraining programs, to say nothing of later efforts like the IRA that have been great for manufacturing, and (2) the 2008 crash was caused by the kind of deregulation that is happening again now.
We are trapped in this cycle of Republican policies crashing the economy, the government bailing them out, and then people complaining about the government not doing enough so let's fire them.

Manufacturing jobs did not recover.

I'm not saying Obama didn't do anything. But the reality is that none of these government programs address the root causes of the loss of jobs in the manufacturing sector, which was driven by globalization that both Republicans and Democrats supported. And I don't know what the answer is, nor am I equating that with Trump and Musk's illegal actions, but if we are talking about elected officials making decisions that decimate communities and then saying nobody cares about the risk to our community - we need to be sensitive to that.

Multiple government bailouts and recovery plans is, by definition, people caring.
I don't see any congressional program to train fired feds to be solar technicians or electricians, like we had for those communities.

It matters because this tone policing is part of the problem. Feds are supposed to shut up and take it on the chin because we always have before, and our elected reps are used to us doing that so they are indifferent.

Whoosh

I really can't help you if this is your takeaway

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are like you, OP...I'm a contractor and she's a fed.

I haven't been directly impacted (yet) but it's a living hell for my wife. She supervises a group of employees who were 100% telework. Some are local, some are remote. At first the remote employees were told to find a federal office within 50 miles - and those without one in that range could stay remote. Now the guidance has changed and they are being ordered back to DC. Some of them were hired remote and have never lived here to begin with.

I didn’t hear that. So that previous memo is no longer valid?

[Anonymous]

Btw if you reply to someone replying to someone else and don't identify yourself as a DP, that's on you. Or likely, you're not a DP at all.