Maggie was faced with a tough choice in February 2025: quit her job at the US office of personnel management or be unceremoniously fired.
Though she was a few months pregnant at the time, Maggie was offered one of the buyouts that were offered to tens of thousands of federal government employees by the office of personnel management.
“I couldn’t be without health insurance through the delivering of my baby,” said Maggie, who requested to omit her last name for fear of professional repercussions. “I was going to have six to seven months of paid parental leave, because I’d been on my job for five years and I accrued time.”
She took a buyout offer in May 2025 and, like many federal employees who took buyouts, and was placed on administrative leave until September 2025. She delivered her baby in September, just 10 days before she formally lost her job.