Northwest federal workers are demoralized, but many are determined to keep their jobs

Orders to return to the office, emails inviting federal employees to resign and a barrage of executive orders have been pouring out of the White House since President Donald Trump took office last month.

A deferred resignation offer was emailed from the Office of Personnel Management, the government’s Human Resources department, on Jan. 28. It offered workers a choice: resign and get paid through September, or stay and face the reforms coming from the new administration. 

The constant stream of communications and demands have left many federal workers in the Northwest anxious and demoralized. 

“People are really concerned because there’s a lot of churn and a lot more confusion that you would normally get when (administration) changes are happening,” said Mark Ansell, who works as an engineer for the Department of the Navy in Kitsap County in Washington state. 

As a veteran, Ansell said he’s a federal worker because he wants to serve his country. He’s an electrical engineer who tests power systems for the military to make sure they are safe to use in the field.

Many of his coworkers are also veterans, he said. Ansell added that most federal workers could be making more money in the private sector. 

“Their motivations are to do this work for the good of the country, not to just draw a paycheck and do as little as possible,” said Ansell, who made clear he is speaking as a citizen rather than on behalf of the military. 

On Wednesday, a federal judge declined to block the resignation offer.

The program was officially closed Wednesday evening.

“The program’s legality or lack thereof doesn’t change anything for me, I’m not quitting,” said Sam Bernhisel, who works in the audiology department of the Robert D. Maxwell Department of Veterans Affairs Clinic in Bend, Oregon. 

“I will continue to give my patients the best care I can,” Bernhisel said. He said he personally doesn’t know anyone who took the buyout offer. 

On Wednesday, House Republicans unveiled a  fiscal plan for 2025 that includes more than $4 trillion in tax cuts.

To get there, the Trump administration has continued to outline directives for the federal workforce to be downsized.

Working with veterans to help them get the hearing aids they need is rewarding work, and part of the draw of the job was its stability, Bernhisel said, adding that he has a wife, kids and a mortgage. 

“It’s kind of ironic because it doesn’t feel so stable,” he said. “It’s discouraging to feel like my work isn’t valued because I’m a federal employee.”

This week, the White House released an executive order to implement the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, initiative to reduce the number of federal employees and restructure the federal workforce. DOGE is led by SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. 

The plan includes not hiring more than one employee for every four who leave.

“I think the overall goal is to drive a lot of the infrastructural work that the federal government does into private hands, for the sake of monetizing and turning a profit on some of the basic services that the government provides,” Ansell said. 

It’s upsetting that elected officials don’t seem to be putting up much of a fight, he added. 

“It feels a lot like the people that we’re expecting to represent us are capitulating to the executive branch,” Ansell said. “I’m anxious and pretty scared about the path that the country is going in.”