With no deal in sight to end the second-longest government shutdown, federal employees facing layoffs and furloughs say this situation is taking an unimaginable toll<\/p>\n
Many furloughed and excepted federal employees received a partial paycheck earlier this month and are on track to miss their first full paycheck as soon as this week.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, some of the approximately 4,000 federal employees who recently received layoff notices say they are being pushed to their limits. Some say they\u2019re unsure how they will continue to pay for housing or essential medical procedures if they lose their health insurance.<\/p>\n
A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from implementing many of these RIFs. But many federal employees who have already received layoff notices say they\u2019re afraid of what happens next.<\/p>\n
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In recent court filings, several laid-off federal employees described the toll these layoffs are having on their lives. One federal employee told the court she received her RIF notice while on maternity leave. Others said they received RIF notices earlier this year that were rescinded, and have now received a second RIF notice this month.<\/p>\n
Dorothy Roper, an IT specialist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told the court<\/a> on Wednesday that she received a RIF notice on Oct. 10 \u2014 her second this year.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not my first time receiving a RIF notice,\u201d Roper wrote.<\/p>\n Roper said her entire team received RIF notices in April, when the Department of Health and Human Services laid off more than 10,000 employees. Roper said her team was eventually reinstated.<\/p>\n \u201cNow, six months later, the agency has issued a RIF for my position again,\u201d Roper wrote. \u201cThis RIF and the uncertainty of whether I have a job is causing me deep financial and emotional distress.\u201d<\/p>\n Mayra Medrano, program analyst at the Minority Business Development Agency within the Commerce Department, also received her second RIF notice this year.<\/p>\n Medrano told the court<\/a> she received her first RIF notice while she was in the hospital, covering from a \u201cstress-induced\u201d seizure, but was later reinstated. This time around, she\u2019s not sure what to expect.<\/p>\n ]]><\/p>\n \u201cI am reliving the nightmare of the first RIF,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n LaMarla Stevens, management analyst in the Office of Housing Counseling at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, said she received a RIF notice<\/a> while still on maternity leave.<\/p>\n \u201cI had expected to have several more months of maternity leave to focus on caring for my four-month-old son. Because of the RIF, I do not know whether I will receive back pay for the remainder of my paid maternity leave,\u201d Stevens wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cEven if I am able to find a job, going back to work means incurring months of child care expenses that I had not planned for and that I don\u2019t know if I will be able to afford,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n Christine Grassman, a vocational program specialist at the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services in the Education Department, told the court<\/a> also worried about being able to keep paying her mortgage after receiving a RIF notice this month.<\/p>\n Grassman is blind, and her husband, who is also blind, is not currently working. At 56, Grassman said she planned to keep working for the federal government until she reached retirement age.<\/p>\n \u201cThe idea of losing my job is both terrifying and devastating. I have worked very hard to be a gainfully employed person with a disability, and I had intended to continue working in the government until I retired,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n