Explainer

There’s an old business truism: It costs a lot less to retain an employee than to hire a new one.

Let’s add a recently learned truism to the textbooks: It costs a lot less to retain an employee than to fire them and then rehire them when a US District Judge tells you the firing was an illegal “sham.”

Editor's note: This article was originally published in the Chattanooga Times Free Press and is reposted here with permission from the author.

I have spent most of the last three decades working to make government smarter, more honest and more efficient.

First, let's get one thing straight: I want the government to be efficient, too.

I want the line to move faster at the Post Office. I want it to be easy (not just easier—easy!) to file my taxes. I want my tax dollars to build roads and schools and fix the damage from natural disasters.

Our former organization, 18F, has been in the news lately since being eliminated by DOGE. For those hearing our name for the first time, we wanted to take a moment to introduce ourselves. 

Editor's note: This story is posted with permission from the anonymous federal employee who shared it with us. Some edits were made for length and clarity.

Editor's note: This story is posted with permission from the anonymous federal employee who shared it with us. Some edits were made for length and clarity.

As someone who has worked in the federal government most of my life, both military and as a federal worker in the field of cybersecurity, I can tell you that Trump, Musk, DOGE and his DOGE workers (non-Civil Service Workers hired through loyalty) are the biggest insider threats the U.S. government has ever faced.

Editor's note: This story is posted with permission from the anonymous federal employee who shared it with us. Some edits were made for length and clarity.

For the first time in my more than 30 year career, I find myself unemployed. Most recently, I led a federal agency as an appointee under the prior administration. After the 2024 election, my job ended on January 20, 2025. I took a trip and returned to hear concerns about federal employees being unqualified, lazy, or not showing up to work.

Editor's note: This story is posted with permission from the anonymous federal employee who shared it with us. Some edits were made for length and clarity.

I was a former Legislative Affairs Specialist with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) at the Department of the Interior's (DOI) HQ in DC before being wrongfully terminated in February 2025 given my probationary status. 

Editor's note: This story is posted with permission from the anonymous federal employee who shared it with us. Some edits were made for length and clarity.

Content note: This story contains discussion of suicide.

Editor's note: This story is posted with permission from the anonymous federal employee who shared it with us. Some edits were made for length and clarity.