DOGE personified
July 2nd, 2025 at 01:10 amUnfortunately, I recently found out that a friend of mine lost his job to DOGE. DOGE substantially slashed his agency's funding, particularly those related to research and study of pollution and its environmental impact. Unlike other "luckier" employees, this friend wasn't given a "buy out offer" or anything. His entire department was simply gutted financially, and was left to fend for itself with what remains of their funding.
So, when this friend of mine made an unintentional error, instead of the usual paper discipline, they instead fired him on the spot. Sadly, it made sense, as the agency no longer has the money to keep the entire staff on the payroll, and is trying to find any excuse to let people go.
For some, including myself, most political headlines like DOGE may be just another piece of faraway news you might read somewhere. Not this time though. This friend of mine is an intelligent, hard working, and highly capable individual who has faithfully worked for the agency for at least 15 productive years. He has a name, a face, a family, and has done everything he can to live his life in a humble and responsible manner. And this is how he is paid in return? After more than a decade's worth of hard work and faithful service? Now, with the BBB (Big Beautiful Bill as Trump puts it) just barely passed the senate, the Rich are going to get even bigger tax breaks, while the little people who make the country a better place to live in gets uncermoniously booted out of a job? Unbelievable.
To end this entry on a more positive note, this friend has also been working two jobs for a while, and was thinking of slimming down to just one job anyway. That's what he told me, trying to put a more positive spin to all this, and is grateful that he is at least still fully employed elsewhere. Still, I know him. He would not have left had they not fired him in the first place. And sure, programs like DOGE may come and go, but for this friend, this firing has a life-altering effect that will negatively impact him for the rest of his life. Sometimes, a headline isn't just headline.