My federal job was cut, but I’m not giving up on public service | Opinion
I grew up in Kansas City and I am a proud card-carrying Kansas Citian. A Lincoln College Preparatory Academy graduate, I am also a proud example of Kansas City Public Schools and the importance of public education. Kansas City instills a “city-that-could” mentality in its sons and daughters. A sense of self-confidence and grit to roll up your sleeves and get things done infuses the water. It’s that sense of service that makes it a hub of public servants.
I followed the public service tradition of my mother, father, grandmother, grandfathers and great-grandfathers, and became a public servant in 2022. I recorded swearing my oath of office, and I sent the recording to my Nana first, my wife second and my mother third. I knew they’d all be proud I had achieved a personal goal after more than a decade of effort and education.
That decade-long journey began my junior year at Lincoln High School, when I told my Mandarin Chinese teacher how I wanted to make China policy. It took 10 years from that day, a degree in U.S. military history and foreign policy, a Boren Scholarship to study in Beijing, a master’s degree in international security policy from Columbia University and a $40,000 pay cut finally to swear my oath of office as a federal worker.
As such, it is bittersweet to share that I left federal service this May. I chose to separate through the Deferred Resignation Program after my office was designated for a reduction of more than 60%, as part of the Department of Homeland Security workforce transition program. This program gave employees like me 72 hours to decide on the best path forward for our careers in the face of a reduction in force. Those three days were an intense period of self-reflection on my own career goals and dreams, family security and even my sense of worth.
China, Russia, Iran, North Korea cybersecurity
Our team — hired to focus on the national security challenges to critical infrastructure and malicious cyberactions from China, Russia, Iran and North Korea — suddenly needed to navigate the professional uncertainties brought on by the restructuring. Lacking the preference points for veteran status, disability or time in service that would have elevated me to a higher tier, my office’s entire junior staff elected to separate and do what was best for our families and financial security with the information we had.
Across the country, a generation of public servants is exiting early from a career they felt so clearly in their soul. The impact will also hit Kansas City, a hub for federal workers, hard. But, despite the challenges — from public debates about federal compensation to proposed reforms of civil service protections — I still believe in the public service mission. This isn’t how I envisioned my career playing out, but I am choosing to view it as a chapter closing instead of the end of the book. There are more chapters ahead of me.
Public service is a clarion call from the soul. It is a career we choose out of a sense of mission and fulfillment. If you, like me, feel that call but are wary — or, perhaps, weary — of the federal work environment or way federal workers are treated, do not give up. The mission to improve the lives of our fellow citizens doesn’t end in Washington, D.C. For students and recent graduates interested in giving back — and folks in the same boat as me — I point to rewarding opportunities to serve our communities at the state and local levels. States such as Kansas, Pennsylvania, New York, Michigan and even counties such as St. Louis County, are hiring for vital roles right now as they recognize federal talent hitting the market. Displaced federal workers, such as those from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, might even find a home as more states like Kansas work to modernize their cyberinfrastructure, and Texas, following New York’s example, creates their own cybercommand. Missouri should similarly bolster cybersecurity funding and training to do the same to help support hospitals and K-12 education.
As President Harry Truman said, “There is no life or occupation in which a man can find a greater opportunity to serve his community or his country.” The path may be challenging, but the mission is as critical as ever. Persist in it.