food go to waste while children went without did not make America stronger, safer, or more prosperous. The Future Looks Bleak I’m from California; I’ve been a Foreign Service officer for not quite three years. My future looks bleak, as does the agency’s. My wife and I worked very hard to make it into the Foreign Service. We both sacrificed our previous careers, proximity to family and community, and even time together for this dream. I had just received my onward assignment, which would put me geographically closer to my wife, and we were looking forward to starting a family. Frankly, I am completely in shock and without a plan. They are even saying we have to leave our dog behind. What is the point? Where is the emergency? This false sense of urgency in shuttering the agency is destroying careers and causing immense pain for some of the finest Americans I know—those who were proud to represent, serve, and share America’s goodwill in the world. Standing Up for the Voiceless I am a resident of Virginia and have been with USAID for nearly 18 years—first as a civil servant and now as a Foreign Service officer. I have served in numerous administrations, both Republican and Democratic, and I have lived up to my oath of working in the public interest. My area of expertise is democracy, governance, and civil society, and I have spent my career standing up for the rights of those who have no voice. I now find that I am in the same unfortunate place myself. I was placed on administrative leave along with nearly 2,200 staff in Washington, D.C. My husband, who works for an international organization, was laid off along with two-thirds of his staff with just two weeks’ severance pay. With both of us unexpectedly unemployed, we will have to live off our savings and leave our home to find jobs elsewhere. During my 20 years in government, I have served loyally in Washington and in three missions overseas. I have implemented policies I did not agree with because my job has always required supporting any elected administration’s decisions. I have worked with difficult governments to find connections between government and civil society. I have dutifully managed more than $180 million of programming entrusted to me by the American taxpayer. I have visited project sites in the equatorial heat and freezing Andes. I have lived in very poor countries and adapted to the unimaginable. I have done all this without complaint at the expense of my health and that of my family, who followed me around the world. Leaving Patients to Die I am originally from California, and I have been with USAID for nearly 15 years. I am currently doing long-term training at the School for Advanced Military Studies in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. I moved my family here in June 2024, and now I’m not sure if I will be able to complete the degree program. My family lives on base, and I fear that my kids may get yanked out of their home and school should we be terminated. I am grieving for my family, for everything we stand to lose. But more than anything, I grieve for our abandoned programs, our local staff and implementing partner staff, and, most of all, our beneficiaries. My colleagues and I have dedicated our lives “In compliance with the stopwork order, we stopped delivery of the meals. The perishable foods were left to rot while the children went hungry.” THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL-MAY 2025 53
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