‘We’re just beaten’: For beleaguered federal workers, shutdown is last straw

The Washington Post ^ | October 4, 2025 6:00 a.m. EDT | annah Natanson , Olivia George and Meryl Kornfield

[E. Pluribus Unum]

President Donald Trump’s second term had already brought misery to the nation’s 2.1 million civilian federal workers: unprecedented mass layoffs, strict return-to-office requirements and more red tape regulating everything from travel to printer paper.

Now, with the government shut down, 750,000 federal staffers have been furloughed and many others are working without pay, even as Trump and his top lieutenants vow to put more federal jobs on the chopping block.

“When did we become the enemy?” said one National Institutes of Health employee who, like other workers interviewed for this article, spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. Her husband, who retired from the NIH this year, could not answer.

“Why are we the enemy?” he asked.

More than 80 federal employees across three dozen agencies described the shutdown, and the spreading fear of layoffs, as the last straw. Some said they are using their unplanned time at home to start applying to positions in the private sector. Others would like to leave but don’t think they could find another job.

The large numbers of experienced federal workers who continue to flee — coupled with the dismay and fatigue afflicting those who remain — raise the question of whether the U.S. government is less effectively able to serve the public. As it limps to the end of 2025, the government is a diminished body staffed by a shrinking number of exhausted people barely hanging on to their sanity, said Max Stier, president of the Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit that advocates to improve federal agencies and services.

The shutdown only hastens the decline, he said.

“What workforce would you treat in this way?” Stier said. “What other job is there in this country where you can be told you must work and you’re not going to...”

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TOPICS: Government
KEYWORDS: dei; demedia; doge; enemedia; maga; officialdemnarrative; ohnoanyway; shutdown; unwashedcompost; usaid

[E. Pluribus Unum]

That's a shame.

[AppyPappy]

And the Democrats just don’t care about them.

[Dr. Sivana]

“When did we become the enemy?”

When your immediate bosses took power unto themselves, preventing the Chief Executive Office from implementing policy.

[Texas Eagle]

Oh, wah. Now you’ll have to watch porn on your own time.

[Paladin2]

Fauxcy’s fault.

[clee1]

And this conservative republican doesn’t either. Feral Goobermint employees and their unions are part of the problem. Firing 90% of them is a start on the solution.

[airborne]

Not the enemy.

Just the logical answer to the problem of bureaucratic bloat.

[Theophilus]

What workforce would you treat in this way?

It's always been a paid vacation. Make EVERY government employee essential. Permanently eliminate unessential jobs.

[alstewartfan]

95% of them voted Communist. If their Comrades in office cared, there would be no shutdown. 😰

[DIRTYSECRET]

Been around those folks when I was in the military. They do absolutely nothing.

[cgbg]

““Why are we the enemy?” he asked.”

NIH employees were fine with the unvaxxed being declared “the enemy” by senile Biden.

Cry me a river.

[El Cid]

“When did we become the enemy?”

Watch the move 'The Hunger Games' for a primer.
Understand that you are the Capitol (DC, and the surrounding bedroom communities) and the rest of the country (us) are the plebian Districts.

[Theophilus]

Government employee should NEVER be part of a union. They are taxpayers too. A union is a conflict of interests. Civil Servant should never form a political constituency. Government agencies are not self licking ice cream cones.

[Drew68]

Remember when Obama closed all of the monuments in DC?

[where's_the_Outrage?]

Her husband, who retired from the NIH this year, could not answer. “Why are we the enemy?” he asked.

Masks, forced Vax, social distancing, blatant lies, etc.

[metmom]

“When did we become the enemy?” said one National Institutes of Health employee who, like other workers interviewed for this article, spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. Her husband, who retired from the NIH this year, could not answer.

When you made yourself one by siding with the democrats.

[Billthedrill]

Ah, the WaPo weighs in. Company town, company paper - no wonder it's complaining.

When did they become the enemy? They're not. But when I wake up to stories about pastry cooking classes and dance focus groups for male prostitutes in Haiti I kind of wonder who wants to take money from me at the point of a gun and give it to this sort of thing.

[metmom]

A very apt analogy.

[shelterguy]

Time to move on with your life. Learn to wire.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Others would like to leave but don’t think they could find another job.

Speaks volumes...