‘A never-ending nightmare.’ Federal workers detail mental health toll of government downsizing
29th July 2025
Federal News Network, a Voice of the You Know Who.
Since the start of the Trump administration, federal workers across the country have experienced mass layoffs as part of a broader effort to shrink the size of the federal workforce and cut spending.
In the last six months, the Trump administration has employed a range of tactics to dismantle portions of the federal government. First, agencies laid off thousands of probationary employees. In February, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) sent an email to more than 2 million civilian employees offering them to voluntarily leave their jobs in exchange for eight months of pay — some federal agencies later offered another chance to voluntarily resign before they finalized their reduction-in-force (RIF) plans. Entire offices and some agencies have been shut down as a result of these workforce cuts.
Amid a wave of changes and constant fear of potential job loss as layoffs loom, many federal workers found themselves struggling with high levels of anxiety, seeking therapy and medication for the first time in their lives, experiencing chronic insomnia, depression, aggressive outbursts, isolation and even self-harming thoughts, Federal News Network found in a new online survey.