'Cold and cruel': Former federal workers 'shocked, angry and emotionally distraught'

As has been widely reported, the Trump administration has begun implementing mass layoffs across several federal agencies, leaving thousands of workers reeling.

The story of Elena Moseyko, a data scientist at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and was recently interviewed by USA Today, illustrates the impact of these sudden terminations.

"I feel so angry now at the administration because I traumatized my kids," Moseyko said. "I wish I would've never joined the federal government."

Moseyko left a private sector job for what she thought was a secure government position, but now faces an uncertain future. With a mortgage, preschool tuition and car payments looming, her family's financial stability has been abruptly upended.

Various former federal workers shared their stories of USA Today and "said they were shocked, angry and emotionally distraught by the terminations."

Chelsea Milburn, who is also a Navy Reservist, lost her job in public affairs at the Department of Education. She described the termination email she received. "It read like a copy-and-paste letter that did not provide any specifics. It was just very cold and cruel."

"The agency finds, based on your performance, that you have not demonstrated that your further employment at the agency would be in the public interest," her termination letter read, according to USA Today.

State Department employee Constantine Kiriakou, recently interviewed by Reuters, has plans to take the government up on its recently announced buy-out offer. "He wrestled with the decision after his wife lost her job at the US Agency for International Development in recent cuts," according to Reuters.

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by richest man in the world and government contractor Elon Musk, has been at the forefront of aggressive downsizing effort. Thousands of workers have been laid off in recent days, with a focus on newer hires still in their probationary period.

President Trump has shown no signs of backing down from the downsizing effort, despite numerous lawsuits filed by unions representing government workers. "He who saves his country does not violate any law," Trump declared on his social media platform, Truth Social.

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