I'm making a list of the ~12 most significant policy changes from the first 18 months of this administration. This is for a book I'm editing about federal resignations in 2025.

I've got the obvious stuff:

1. Day 1 executive orders (creation of DOGE)
2. Deferred Resignation Program
3. Vought confirmed at OMB
4. "5 bullet points"
5. Inspector General firings
6. the October 2025 shutdown
7. Trump vs. Slaughter decision.

Those seem like clear touchstones for "Wow, this place is about to change."

Over on the r/DeptHHS subreddit, somebody said "make sure you mention the CDC shooting," and that was an unexpected take. (I had, appallingly, forgotten all about that.) It's not a policy, but I can see why it would have felt like a watershed before&after moment for federal workers in public health. Is there something comparable for Commerce or NOAA?

What am I missing? What else might I have forgotten?

I'm making a list of the ~12 most significant policy changes from the first 18 months of this administration. This is for a book I'm editing about federal resignations in 2025.

I've got the obvious stuff:

1. Day 1 executive orders (creation of DOGE)
2. Deferred Resignation Program
3. Vought confirmed at OMB
4. "5 bullet points"
5. Inspector General firings
6. the October 2025 shutdown
7. Trump vs. Slaughter decision.

Those seem like clear touchstones for "Wow, this place is about to change."

Over on the r/DeptHHS subreddit, somebody said "make sure you mention the CDC shooting," and that was an unexpected take. (I had, appallingly, forgotten all about that.) It's not a policy, but I can see why it would have felt like a watershed before&after moment for federal workers in public health.

What am I missing? What else might I have forgotten?

I’m trying to create a timeline of about 20 events, 2025–26, that most impacted the US Federal workforce in terms of morale, scope, and staffing. This timeline, with little icon illustrations, will likely form the inside cover artwork for our upcoming book of federal resignation letters. (This subreddit and r/DeptHHS have been hugely helpful in shaping this book with your previous references and recommendations; we'll have 2 NIH letters in the book, plus an original essay about the history of NIH funding 1965–present.)

If you’re on this subreddit, you likely lived through a very bumpy 2025. What events, executive orders, or changes most stood out to you as “this is going to change what it means to be a federal employee?”

Here’s what I’ve got so far. What key events have we overlooked? What doesn't belong on this list?

1. January 2025: President inaugurated, establishment of Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) by executive order.
2. January 2025: Office of Personnel Management (OPM) sends a government-wide “fork in the road” email to most civilian federal employees, offering full pay and benefits for several weeks if they resign under the Deferred Resignation Program.
3. January 2025: The federal government begins to implement return-to-office mandates, reversing remote work arrangements dating back to the 2020 Pandemic.
4. February 2025: Acting Administrator of United States Agency for International Development (USAID) closes headquarters and suspends nearly all foreign aid pending a six-week review.
5. February 2025: Senate confirms Russell Vought as Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
6. February 2025: Inspectors General at numerous Cabinet departments and subordinate agencies are dismissed or defunded.
7. February 2025: OPM emails nearly all civilian employees, directing them to submit weekly email updates explaining their activities and progress. DOGE Advisor Elon Musk posts on X that failure to comply will be construed as resignation.
8. March 2025: President orders Education Secretary to take “all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return education authority to the states.”
9. March 2025: Health and Human Services announces the elimination of 10,000 jobs at HHS, including cuts to the FDA, CDC, and National Institutes of Health.
10. March 2025: President signs an executive order ending collective bargaining for 1 million unionized federal workers.
11. April 2025: With the first two rounds of Deferred Resignation Program over, OPM and OMB direct agencies to submit plans for significant reductions in force (RIFs).
12. May 2025: Secretary of Defense announces plans to cut over 100 generals and admirals from the US armed forces.
13. October 2025: A partial federal government shutdown begins after appropriations lapse.
14. February 2026: OPM finalizes its “Schedule F” policy, reclassifying thousands of policy-related career positions so that they are outside of traditional civil-service job protections.
15. June 2026: Brookings reports that DC-area home prices have fallen 25% since 2019, bucking a national trend.
16. June 2026: The Supreme Court rules in Trump vs. Slaughter that the President has broad authority to fire officials at agencies once considered independent.
17. July 2026: DOGE formally concludes operations pursuant to its original executive order.

I’m trying to create a timeline of about 20 events, 2025–26, that most impacted the US Federal workforce in terms of morale, scope, and staffing. This timeline, with little icon illustrations, will likely form the inside cover artwork for our upcoming book of federal resignation letters. (This subreddit has been hugely helpful in shaping this book with your previous references and recommendations; we'll have 2 NIH letters and one CMS letter in the book.)

If you’re on this subreddit, you likely lived through a very bumpy 2025. What events, executive orders, or changes most stood out to you as “this is going to change what it means to be a federal employee?”

Here’s what I’ve got so far. What key events have we overlooked? What doesn't belong on this list?

1. January 2025: President inaugurated, establishment of Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) by executive order.
2. January 2025: Office of Personnel Management (OPM) sends a government-wide “fork in the road” email to most civilian federal employees, offering full pay and benefits for several weeks if they resign under the Deferred Resignation Program.
3. January 2025: The federal government begins to implement return-to-office mandates, reversing remote work arrangements dating back to the 2020 Pandemic.
4. February 2025: Acting Administrator of United States Agency for International Development (USAID) closes headquarters and suspends nearly all foreign aid pending a six-week review.
5. February 2025: Senate confirms Russell Vought as Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
6. February 2025: Inspectors General at numerous Cabinet departments and subordinate agencies are dismissed or defunded.
7. March 2025: President orders Education Secretary to take “all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return education authority to the states.”
8. March 2025: Health and Human Services announces the elimination of 10,000 jobs at HHS, including cuts to the FDA, CDC, and National Institutes of Health.
9. March 2025: President signs an executive order ending collective bargaining for 1 million unionized federal workers.
10. April 2025: With the first two rounds of Deferred Resignation Program over, OPM and OMB direct agencies to submit plans for significant reductions in force (RIFs).
11. May 2025: Secretary of Defense announces plans to cut over 100 generals and admirals from the US armed forces.
12. October 2025: A partial federal government shutdown begins after appropriations lapse.
13. February 2026: OPM finalizes its “Schedule F” policy, reclassifying thousands of policy-related career positions so that they are outside of traditional civil-service job protections.
14. June 2026: Brookings reports that DC-area home prices have fallen 25% since 2019, bucking a national trend.
15. June 2026: The Supreme Court rules in Trump vs. Slaughter that the President has broad authority to fire officials at agencies once considered independent.
16. July 2026: DOGE formally concludes operations pursuant to its original executive order.

Do you know someone, or are you someone, who can write with authority on the historical role federal grants have played in funding American research?

We're publishing a collection of the best-written federal resignation letters of 2025, which will include letters from employees of NOAA, NIH, NASA, and the Department of Energy, among others.

We are closed for new submissions of resignation letters, but now we are looking to commission three essays to appear in the book:

1. The role the federal government has played in supporting scientific and medical research from WW2 to today (That's why we're on r/NOAA now)
2. How other countries and communities have demonstrated resilience and self-reliance when national governments have retreated or collapsed, and how those lessons are (or are not) applicable to America
3. The ways federal jobs historically provided opportunities to enter the American middle class, particularly for communities in the DC/VA/MD/WV area

Bicycle Comics is fully aware that 1. freelance writers are a thing and 2. generative AI is a thing. That's not what we want. We want someone who has studied this issue, who knows it well, and who can write with some hard-won insight: How did the federal government support American research, and how has that changed recently? (Or hey, maybe you think it hasn't changed much; we'll try to keep an open mind if that's your pitch.)

We have a budget for these commissions; it might be nice side money for an assistant professor or a post-doc on summer break. Nothing spectacular, but we do respect your time.

If any of this interests you, please read more on our website. Thank you for reading this!

Do you know someone, or are you someone, who can write with authority on the historical role federal grants have played in funding American research?

We're publishing a collection of the best-written federal resignation letters of 2025, which will include three letters from NIH staffers who left their jobs to protest political interference in medical research and/or hiring practices.

We are closed for new submissions of resignation letters, but now we are looking to commission three essays to appear in the book:

1. The role the federal government has played in supporting scientific and medical research from WW2 to today (That's why we're on r/DeptHHS now)
2. How other countries and communities have demonstrated resilience and self-reliance when national governments have retreated or collapsed, and how those lessons are (or are not) applicable to America
3. The ways federal jobs historically provided opportunities to enter the American middle class, particularly for communities in the DC/VA/MD/WV area

Bicycle Comics is fully aware that 1. freelance writers are a thing and 2. generative AI is a thing. That's not what we want. We want someone who has studied this issue, who knows it well, and who can write with some hard-won insight: How did the federal government support American research, and how has that changed recently? (Or hey, maybe you think it hasn't changed much; we'll try to keep an open mind if that's your pitch.)

We have a budget for these commissions; it might be nice side money for an assistant professor or a post-doc on summer break. Nothing spectacular, but we do respect your time.

If any of this interests you, please read more on our website. Thank you for reading this!

Do you know someone, or are you someone, who credits a federal job with opening an opportunity to join the middle class?

We're publishing a collection of the best-written federal resignation letters of 2025, which will include 24 letters from feds across 12 Cabinet departments and independent agencies, from GS-5 to Senate-confirmed appointees. Most of them left their jobs to protest political interference.

We are closed for new submissions of resignation letters, but now we are looking for some context and content about what federal jobs mean (or once meant) to workers and their families in terms of financial security and the American Dream.

If you are a current or former federal worker, we're collecting anonymous input with this survey.

Furthermore, we are looking to commission essays from academics or policy experts on the following three topics:

1. The ways federal jobs historically provided opportunities to enter the American middle class, particularly for communities in the DC/VA/MD/WV area (that's why we're on r/FedEmployees today)
2. How other countries and communities have demonstrated resilience and self-reliance when national governments have retreated or collapsed, and how those lessons are (or are not) applicable to America
3. The role the federal government has played in supporting scientific and medical research from WW2 to today

Bicycle Comics is fully aware that 1. freelance writers are a thing and 2. generative AI is a thing. That's not what we want. We want someone who has studied this issue, who knows it well, and who can write with some hard-won insight: How did federal jobs support a growing middle class in the DMV, and how has that changed? (Or hey, maybe you think it hasn't changed much; we'll try to keep an open mind if that's your pitch.)

We have a budget for these commissions; it might be nice side money for a retired Department of Labor economist or a sociology professor on summer break.

If any of this interests you, please read more on our website. Thank you for reading this!

Do you know someone, or are you someone, who can write with authority on the historical role federal grants have played in funding American research?

We're publishing a collection of the best-written federal resignation letters of 2025, which will include three letters from NIH staffers who left their jobs to protest political interference in medical research and/or hiring practices.

We are closed for new submissions of resignation letters, but now we are looking to commission three essays to appear in the book:

1. The role the federal government has played in supporting scientific and medical research from WW2 to today (That's why we're on r/grants now)
2. How other countries and communities have demonstrated resilience and self-reliance when national governments have retreated or collapsed, and how those lessons are (or are not) applicable to America
3. The ways federal jobs historically provided opportunities to enter the American middle class, particularly for communities in the DC/VA/MD/WV area

Bicycle Comics is fully aware that 1. freelance writers are a thing and 2. generative AI is a thing. That's not what we want. We want someone who has studied this issue, who knows it well, and who can write with some hard-won insight: How did the federal government support American research, and how has that changed recently? (Or hey, maybe you think it hasn't changed much; we'll try to keep an open mind if that's your pitch.)

We have a budget for these commissions; it might be nice side money for an assistant professor or a post-doc on summer break. Nothing spectacular, but we do respect your time.

If any of this interests you, please read more on our website. Thank you for reading this!