Less than a year ago, I crossed the stage at the Events Center and received my Master of Public Administration, committing myself to a career in public service. Last week, I walked out of the Theodore Roosevelt Federal Building for the last time, handing in my badge.
Terminated.
Not just me — our entire Office of Communications at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, 20 professionals in total, wiped out in an instant. Elon Musk and his faux “Department of Government Efficiency” dissolved the office entirely, abolishing every single position under the guise of eliminating “waste, fraud and abuse.”
A reporter followed me as I left the building, my face streaked with tears.
But this isn’t just about me. It’s about what’s happening to public service itself.
The government is being gutted before our eyes. I recently visited the Hart Senate Office Building to meet with other federal employees who have been fired. Here’s what I heard:
A web developer at the Social Security Administration was working on a project modernizing our payment system. His entire team was let go. Does making Social Security more efficient not count as “government efficiency?”
A researcher at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was studying the effects of climate change and natural disasters on the Gulf Coast. Her work is now gone. Is protecting citizens from hurricanes and flooding a waste of resources?
Former U.S. Agency for International Development employees were creating international markets for American farmers, helping them sell soybeans to East Asia and Africa. Since when is supporting our farmers considered abuse?
I’ve seen firsthand how hardworking, understaffed teams at the OPM devoted themselves to making government services more effective. I was part of the effort to rebuild the OPM’s website so job seekers, federal employees and veterans could easily access the resources they need. Maybe some billionaire thinks fixing outdated systems is “wasteful.” I’d argue the real waste is keeping broken systems in place and forcing Americans to struggle with them.
These cuts aren’t just numbers on a budget. They’re people.
I was your RA. Your academic advisor. Your peer counselor. Your intramural referee. I built my career around helping others, and I believed my whole life that public service was an honor. But today, we’re being told that serving the public is a waste of taxpayer dollars.
Look around. You know someone in public service — a nurse, a firefighter, a teacher. Your professors are public servants. The roads you drive on, the water you drink, the safety of your community — these are protected by public servants. When we defund the government, we don’t just lose jobs. We lose safety, stability and opportunity.
Billionaires call public service a “Ponzi scheme.” Tell that to the senior citizens relying on Social Security to survive. Tell that to the families depending on disaster relief after a hurricane. Tell that to the farmers who need government trade programs to sell their crops.
U.S. Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand voted to advance a budget that slashes vital services and hands our government over to private billionaires. They voted to let Donald Trump and Elon Musk dismantle the institutions that serve us.
They need to hear from you.
Call their offices now:
● Sen. Schumer: (202) 224-6542
● Sen. Gillibrand: (202) 224-4451
Tell them they’ve abandoned their constituents. Tell them they won’t win their next primaries. Tell them that public service is not expendable.
Be loud. Show up at their offices. Make it clear that they work for us — not for billionaires. Because if we stay silent, we’ll wake up in a country where public service is a relic of the past.
And by then, it’ll be too late.
Dominic Bossey ‘23, MPA ‘24 received undergraduate degrees in political science and human development and earned a Master of Public Administration in 2024.
Views expressed in the opinions pages represent the opinions of the columnists. The only piece that represents the view of the Pipe Dream Editorial Board is the staff editorial.