A fork (still) in the road: Three members of r/fednews share their stories

Endless Thread

WBUR

Reddit, Technology

4.2 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 3 October 2025

⏱️ 31 minutes

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Summary

You've heard of the "Freshman 15"... how about the "DOGE 15"? This is how some federal employees have referred to the stress associated with the establishment of the Department of Government Efficiency back in January and the "restructurings, realignments, and reductions in force" that came with it, as announced in an email sent to nearly all federal employees with the subject line, "Fork in the Road."

Federal workers have found community in the FedNews subreddit: "A vital, independent hub for U.S. federal employees to navigate the bureaucracy, protect our careers, and support one another." r/FedNews is our hub for this episode. Back in April, Amory and Ben spoke with three of its members: one of whom is still a federal employee, another who participated in the Deferred Resignation Program, and another who was laid off along with thousands of other probationary employees, only to be offered his job back.

We hear their stories as the country faces another fork in the road: a government shutdown that the White House has said could result in further reductions in force — specifically of federal jobs that are "not consistent with the president's priorities."

Show notes:

r/FedNews (Reddit)
"Fork in the Road" email
E's post (Reddit)
Jacob's post (Reddit)

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Transcript

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0:00.0	WBUR Podcasts, Boston.
0:09.6	How are you doing?
0:14.1	How are you sleeping?
0:16.6	Oh, there's been discussion, I think, relevant to this on R-slash Fed News.
0:21.7	There's the Doge 15. Have you heard this?
0:26.9	No, but I'm...
0:27.7	Like the freshman 15? Everybody's like, why are my pants tight? It's the Doge 15.
0:35.3	This is fearful Fed.
0:40.0	That's how we'll be referring to him anyway.
0:42.2	He works for the federal government.
0:43.7	Doing what?
0:47.9	I'm going to try to talk around which agency exactly I work for.
0:52.9	I've been on the job for about 10 years, and I served in the military before that.
0:57.4	So what else can you tell us about your job?
1:00.4	They have creamer in the refrigerator.
1:06.6	If you buy it, there's no free coffee in the federal government, for sure. A decade ago, Fearful Fed was working in the tech sector, where there was a lot of free coffee, he says, and free breakfast.
1:14.7	And lunch.
1:15.7	And free dinner.
1:16.7	You know, I took a $30,000 pay cut to join the federal government and also left all the free food behind.
1:23.6	So why did you want to work for the federal government?
1:26.6	Service. I was making tools for people in the federal government, and that was fun and
1:33.9	compelling, but whenever I would sit down with somebody and teach them how to use the tool, I was
	...

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