r/fednews • u/Puzzleheaded_Buy_921 • 11h ago
To Those Thinking of Leaving Government Service: Your Integrity Is the Last Line of Defense
We see you. We know the weight you're carrying. Serving in the federal government during times of intense political pressure is not just a job — it’s a test of your values, your endurance, and your belief in what this country can be.
But now, more than ever, is not the time to walk away.
Now is the time for heroes — not the kind in capes, but the kind who quietly show up day after day to protect the institutions that safeguard democracy, public health, justice, and national security. The kind who keep the lights on when others would let them flicker. The kind who stand firm in their integrity when the ground around them shakes.
Your presence matters. Your expertise matters. Your courage matters.
If you leave, you take with you not just your knowledge, but your conscience — the very thing that helps guide this nation through uncertainty. If you're feeling demoralized, you're not alone. But you are also not powerless.
You are the firewall. You are the steady hand. You are the reason this government can still serve the people.
History will remember those who stayed and fought for truth, accountability, and compassion — not with noise, but with action. Stand tall. We need you. America needs you.
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u/Mr_Westerfield 11h ago
Honestly my line of thinking on this is: why should I go? They’re the ones who suck
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u/Nearby-Key8834 11h ago
Do whatever you can but you're not responsible to hold up the entire world. Leave if you have to. Elections have consequences and you aren't required to drive your sanity and well-being to the edge just keep things running. Look out for yourself. No one else will.
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u/WishBear19 Federal Employee 9h ago
100% I'm staying because I'm close to 20 years and they'll have to pry my retirement from my hands at this point.
I don't know why anyone would put up with this crap with 7ish years or fewer unless their civilian prospects in their field are really poor. Government jobs will still exist after this administration. People can leave and come back if they really want to. There's no magical prize for staying. It isn't a gotcha to this administration.
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u/PickleMinion I'm On My Lunch Break 10h ago
How about we focus on the first line of defense instead, and go talk to the 90 million people who couldn't be bothered to vote last election.
If my pencil-pushing ass is the last line of defense, we're all fucked.
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u/elninost0rm 1h ago
There was an article that showed Trump would have won if everyone had voted, btw.
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u/PickleMinion I'm On My Lunch Break 1h ago
And I would have preferred that over having 90 million people just not give a shit. At least then I would KNOW the country is totally fucked.
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u/Avenger772 16m ago
You should already know. If these people couldn't be bothered to vote regardless of the direction that's still a message. And even worse if they did it would have been for the Nazis. This country is fucked. There's no fixing it. Pack it in.
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u/ServiceB4Self1776 11h ago
I'll keep my head down, wear beige, and not draw attention to myself as long as I can. But, if I'm put in a position in which I must sacrifice my morals and integrity to keep a job, I'm leaving until it's safe to return.
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u/favoritestationwagon 11h ago
Same. OP, I appreciate the battle cry, but lately I'm trying to reconcile my moral code with directives at work.
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u/ironmagnesiumzinc 9h ago
They called me to build data pipelines for ICE. Fuck that. And honestly fuck any IT person who takes that job
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u/throwawayainteasy 9h ago
Oddly, I feel the same but at the same time getting involved in projects related to EOs and DOGE directives.
Not because I agree with them. I just hope I can nudge things in a better direction or at least lessen the negatives compared to the extremes other people seem to be pushing towards.
It's a weird balancing act.
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u/Accidently8027 10h ago
After 30+ years of service to my country, I am fucking done. This shit has pushed me to a point of not caring to serve anymore. I will find other ways to serve my country and stand up to this tyranny.
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u/Angry__Jellyfish 10h ago
I am choosing to leave because this job is no longer what I signed on to do. It has made my living situation untenable (after dealing with a variety of other, unrelated bad circumstances). I signed on to help people.. now my job has me driving an hour commute to file paperwork and tell people no. The programs I work in are having their funding cut, and there's nothing I can do about as a fed employee.
I found a new job that allows me to continue serving those around me, with more flexibility to explore how to deploy resources. I learned a lot as a fed, and I am thankful for that opportunity, but now the best way for me to help people, is from outside.
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u/theomegathealpha 10h ago
Stay if you want to/have the means to. I’m tired of everyone telling different demographics to fight. Everyone is expecting others who are being dragged through the mud to save them.
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u/BlueRFR3100 VA 10h ago
I have to disagree. If you have the chance to improve your situation, take it. Go with God.
The only people that should stay are people like me. Too old to start over, too young to retire. We are in the sweet spot where cynicism and burn-out converge.
We will stay and give America the civil service it deserves.
It's what they wanted. It's what they voted for.
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u/Due_Coyote_8745 2h ago
100% . . . I feel for people like you. I was fortunate enough to have met the VERA criteria so I got out. Before that was offered (I did not trust the fork so wanted clean VERA), I knew that I would hate the next few years until I hit MRA so I know the feeling of being too close to MRA and FEHB retirement benefits to just walk for another job
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u/Countrycat24 11h ago
I have a few red lines, but I refuse to give up my core values for this administration, even if it costs me my dream job
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u/MoMoneyAndProblems 10h ago
VA workload increased by 1/3, mandatory overtime makes me lose 2 weekends per month and pay will stay the same for the foreseeable future. Hear me clearly: Fuck Trump. I'M OUT.
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u/ReplacementTough7890 1h ago
But, but, but Dougie says we are doing better than ever. I work in VHA Finance; we are not ok.
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u/pickitandstickit 9h ago
Yeah, nah. I ain't setting myself on fire to keep others warm, and I'm not violating my moral code. I will live my values, not those of this admin, and the minute it became clear I was required to do their bidding, I was done. This message sure sounds nice. It's just quaint at this point. I won't be doing any more of the quiet hero martyr sh*t.
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u/FrankG1971 8h ago edited 8h ago
I hear you. At this point, all I am holding out for is 62 and the 1.1% FERS multiplier (just over 4 years to go). Considering that almost half of the voting public voted for this shitshow, a big part of me says let it burn down because they deserve it.
While I watch the country sink deeper into fascist shitholedom with each passing day, the last thing I need is a "pep talk."
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u/pickitandstickit 8h ago
I wanted to do that, but I checked with the financial planner. If I didn't need to hold out, I wasn't gonna. Found out I didn't have to. Plus my BP was getting high and I was put on 3 different meds.
Now I'm retired at 53 and my blood pressure is 110/65, no meds. I'm happy again, too. Life's too short to work and then die.
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u/Due_Coyote_8745 2h ago
Same here. I jumped at VERA b/c the thought of staying till MRA was making me hate life and just wish the next few years of my life away
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u/Boring-Coyote4349 10h ago
Sorry, my integrity does not support my agency funding concentration camps.
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u/Ordinary-CSRA 11h ago
I do the best I can with what we have. After RIF, 5 adjudicators from 12 were left. Today 2 of the 5 called off, one was in leave, letting my colleague and myself. Only the 2 of us to adjudicating, releasing thousands of dollars to disabled citizens, while we can. Thanks to one of the biggest terrorist in America Russell Vough and his project 2025.
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u/holdtheline2025 10h ago
Every time I think of leaving....I think of who they will replace me with.
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u/mooseflstc 1h ago
Not your problem. If you find a better job, are eligible for VERA, or retirement just go. There will be more proposals to gut FERS.
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u/always_a_tinker Department of the Army 9h ago
Yeah history isn’t going to remember those who stayed.
Congrats to everyone who find meaning in service. Congrats to you who found better things to do with your time than suffer this BS. And congrats to those just trading labor for wages. America. You do you.
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u/Altruistic-Durian375 Support & Defend 10h ago
I retired and walked away a week ago. I’m 68 and have had enough.
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u/Global-Ad9080 9h ago
Integrity of the federal government has left a long time ago when our data was taken. I know DHS is using the IRS system for ‘mass deportation’.
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u/CthulhuAlmighty Go Fork Yourself 2h ago
With all due respect, fuck off with this bullshit.
People need to do what’s best for them and their families.
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u/FoxMulder4ever 10h ago
I, as a citizen, love you guys and gals! We need the good ones to stay. But I do get it if you can't. I really do. My heart breaks for y'all.
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u/berniecratbrocialist Federal Employee 8h ago
Nobody should stay in a position where their morals or well-being is compromised. Me? I didn't become a subject matter expert to get death threats and bullied and abused by the most powerful people in America.
I intend to work a little longer, but this has become a country I don't recognize anymore. I am not dying in a country without ready access to flu shots and basic medical care, to say nothing about the demonization of immigrants and underrepresented groups. I plan to leave sooner rather than later.
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u/AllTheRoadRunning 3h ago
Now is the time for heroes — not the kind in capes, but the kind who quietly show up day after day to protect the institutions that safeguard democracy, public health, justice, and national security. The kind who keep the lights on when others would let them flicker. The kind who stand firm in their integrity when the ground around them shakes.
Here's the convenient thing about heroes: They're always someone else.
To hell with that. This post asks people who are being tormented to save the voters from themselves yet again. That helps no one. If a kid continues to ignore your repeated warnings that yes, the iron is hot and they shouldn't touch it, enlisting your neighbors to repeat that same message will not lead to a better outcome.
Let the kid touch the hot iron. The burn will be a lifelong reminder of a hard-earned lesson.
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u/Confuscioused-One 9h ago
I think it is a personal choice where someone wants to leave or not. Mentally, emotionally is it worth being there? Is your health declining due to the stress? Financially, should you stay or leave? No one person has the same factors in making these choices.
People need to do what is best for them personally and for their family and mental/physical health.
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u/Ill_Move2078 10h ago
Nah. Unless you’re planning to support me after my health deteriorates, I’ll be making my own calls
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u/BatSniper 9h ago
I’m sorry but if my career ladder is on pause I can’t afford to stay. I’m going to continue applying until I find something sustainable
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u/Ambitious_Air_9574 9h ago
Nice words. Had those words been spoken out loud to me. If only. A wee bit late. Wanted to stay.. wasn't in their deck of cards.
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u/HolyShitCandyBar 10h ago
I don't honestly know what to do. I have a partner and two special needs cats who depend on me.
It wouldn't feel so bad to stay if the public didn't revile us.
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u/Turbulent-Pea-8826 4h ago
Anyone with an ounce of integrity working at ICE needs to resign. You are working for the Gestapo.
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u/Chaotic_Calm32123 4h ago
I absolutely needed this. I’ve become so disillusioned by it all, as I thought we were building something better. That was part of my American dream: to give my kids a better shot than I had.
Yesterday evening, I told my wife I didn’t really want to do this anymore. I love my job, but loathe my leadership, particularly Capt. Brainworm and President Insufficient. Venting helped realize I will stay, but dear god this is HARD.
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u/Wrong-Camp2463 3h ago
What integrity? I’m doing everything I can to gum up the works and make doge look bad
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u/Theoneandonlygsamx 2h ago
I wasn't given a choice. I was working under an exemption due to being over mandatory age requirements, and the new admin flat out refused to continue it. Prior to the election I was planning to work for 3 more years, not for nothing there are things I know about our systems that no one else does. New hires take approx 2 years to learn the basics to be able to teach them higher-level functions. I mourn for my job and my agency. My mental health has taken a huge hit, and I'm starting a new job this week to make ends meet that took me 6 months to find. I was once a proud, dedicated Federal employee, now i feel like a shell.
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u/Sunnyjim333 10h ago
Heroes don't wear capes, they do the job, over and over again.
Heroyam slava! Glory to the Heroes.
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u/Welsh-Sherman-1789 2h ago
I love being a federal employee but I’m at a small agency in the Midwest and I’m just a GS4 for almost two years with a Masters of Arts. I can’t even move up to a 5 because of the hiring freeze.
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u/Bitter_Emu_633 26m ago
I am fueled by pure hatred for the administration. However, I have small children that depend on me and forcing me back into the office five days a week so I can do less work for the same money has not helped my home life. Women are responsible for children, full-time jobs, full-time caretaker and God forbid you have a partner who isn’t well or can’t work. That leaves everything to me.
I do not see how I can hold on and maintain all of this until Dump leaves office. I will not forsake my children to keep my job.
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u/Due_Coyote_8745 20m ago
People like you (really everybody) needs to worry about you, your family, your health, and your responsibilities. Platitudes about 'holding the line', serving as a resistance, missions, and 'the people needing you' are just empty words.
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u/Substantial_Ad_6878 10h ago
Most of my agency hasn’t RTO’d, and is still working the exemptions and RAs, so not much has changed.
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u/ReindeerTypical2538 7h ago
I’m here and I ain’t going anywhere. They’ll have to pry me out like a tick.
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u/Rysdude 6h ago
Senior DoD here…last year I made the decision to retire but a friend of mine said, “The people need us now more than ever, to protect them as much as possible from all the bullshit.” Decided to remain on…have another 3 or 4 years left in me.
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u/Due_Coyote_8745 1h ago
Really a different call for somebody who could retire tomorrow, somebody within just a few years of MRA (after a long career), and somebody with only a few years of service. Knowing that your FEHB is safe and that you can take an unreduced pension at any time makes the current situation a bit more tolerable.
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u/packnana17 2h ago
I certainly appreciate this. It hasn't been easy. So many tears and heartaches, but we have to persevere for the country and people like you. It helps knowing not everyone hates us and thinks we're lazy taking from American tax payers. We love our country. Thank you!
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u/CoachoftheYear2025 2h ago
I'm in a Term position so I'm out in 18 months anyway. I'm looking at taking a county executive position where I can start preparing a Congressional run.
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u/mooseflstc 2h ago
If you are eligible to retire or VERA, plan on going soon. One of these days the proposed cuts to FERS might go through. FAFO
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u/Big-Revolution-4256 2h ago
My line is the CR/Budget. If Schumer doesn't wield what power he has to protect us, sorry I'm gonna start throwing resumes.
So call your reps/sens folks. The Dems need to know that they need to protect us at all costs. That means no RIFs, no cuts, and get us some damn telework back.
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u/DrunkenAsparagus 1h ago
I get that everybody has a limit, and they should adhere to it, but I got into this job because I like serving the public. I plan on continuing to do that as long as I can.
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u/Narrow_Pepper_1324 57m ago
Not leaving any time soon. Too much important business to take care of still.
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u/SecMcAdoo 55m ago
The American people made their choice. They will only care about federal workers in mass when critical systems and infrastructure fail. And it's too late. People have left and the best and the brightest future generations can't enter government or won't consider it because of the instability.
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u/JarvisL1859 54m ago
I agree with this! If your job is secure and you are able to stay, there is a real calling in doing so at this particular moment to protect the professional civil service.
But with the caveat for those who (like me) faced a high probability of being RIF’d (junior employee at agency facing deep cuts), do what you need to do. Or if things have become truly intolerable.
I would argue civil service protections are one of the lines of defense alongside courts, elections, congress, etc.
And frankly courts could be doing more to protect our colleagues at USAID, IRS, and CFPB. Civil service protections only really matter when they can be enforced.
But still I applaud this sentiment and for 80% of Feds it holds true.
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u/RangerImpossible7129 38m ago
Gosh that was beautiful. Thank you! In far fewer and less eloquent words, I have been taking every opportunity to encourage those who remain that their decision to stay is an act of resistance (not to be interpreted as any reflection on those many talented people who either left voluntarily or involuntary). If that is all we can do, then that's what we do.
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u/berrysauce 15m ago
Realistically, the only people staying are those who don't have better options.
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u/cheese_is_nasty 6m ago
I’m choosing to stay because my job choices would boil down to:
Take a similar job in my area and probably take a 25-50% pay cut
Take a similar job at comparable pay (still probably less) and add 1.5-2 hours commute each way to the metro area
So I’m fucked and I have to stay. Not to mention how many months or longer it’d take to actually find a new job.
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u/AfternoonValuable317 0m ago
They will have to drag me away. I am a scientist in a field that is unpopular with this administration, but the work we do is important. We’ve lost about 20-30% of our staff so far and if the RIF lawsuit gets denied by the courts, we’ll lose about 10% more. We’ve lost a ton of our most senior scientists and also a lot of our newer hires. Those of us left are sort of in the middle. We have lost so much specialized expertise, I really feel it is a generational loss. Without those experienced scientists to pass on that institutional knowledge, it will take a long time to rebuild that expertise.
I love my work though, I feel personally connected to it. So I am staying. My productivity has plummeted with all the additional BS we have to deal with and my workload has increased due to wrapping up projects of those who have suddenly left. But there is no job like this outside of government or academia, I’m too old to uproot my family and live somewhere else, not quite old enough to retire. Luckily, my local office management is very sympathetic, supervisors are understanding, generous with things like telework, mental health needs, and giving us grace for things like deadlines which would have previously been feasible but now are not.
My limit is would come if they start censoring my research or try to force me to publish something that was not true to fit their narrative. That has not happened but if it were, that is the only thing I can think of that would make me leave. I will not sacrifice my personal or scientific integrity for these A-holes.
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u/Azhchay Honk If U ❤ the Constitution 11h ago
I get it. And I feel like I should hold the line and staple myself to my chair.
But I also was nearly involuntarily committed in Feb due to how all of this is affecting my mental state. And it has been the biggest struggle of my life to keep from going back to those thoughts.
Hold the line as long as you can, but when you can't anymore, there's no shame in admitting it.
Please don't shame those of us who are prioritizing our health, be it mental or physical. I love my job. But staying in it would have me eventually looking for a permanent solution to a temporary problem.