Fired federal workers say 'cold and cruel' cuts upended their lives [View all]
Source: USA Today
Published 6:06 a.m. ET Feb. 16, 2025
The termination notice came just before Valentine's Day, and Elena Moseyko's heart was shattered as she broke down crying in front of her two young children. She has bills to pay – a mortgage, preschool tuition, a car payment – and a scared family. “I feel so angry now at the administration because I traumatized my kids,” she said. "I wish I would’ve never joined the federal government.”
Moseyko joined the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs last year as a data scientist. She’d been “happily employed” in the private sector for a consulting firm but thought a government job seemed more stable. Instead, her life was turned upside down last week after President Donald Trump’s administration began instituting mass layoffs as part of an aggressive effort to trim the federal workforce.
USA TODAY spoke to federal workers fired from the departments of Education, Veterans Affairs, Agriculture and Transportation who said they were shocked, angry and emotionally distraught by the terminations. They were scrambling over the weekend to figure out how to file for unemployment benefits and reviewing their budgets to adjust to a new financial reality. They worried about everything from making rent to paying student loans.
Many talked about going into government work because they value public service and feeling like those values are being trampled. "I'm much more angry than devastated," said Chelsea Milburn, a 34-year-old Navy reservist, who lost her job as a public affairs specialist for the Department of Education. "It took away my hope that I would continue to be respected and valued for my service. And especially in the way the termination happened."
Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/02/16/federal-workers-trump-musk-firings/78728081007/
= new reply since forum marked as read