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Former federal employees who were laid off or accepted buyouts last year as part of the Department of Government Efficiency’s sweeping government cuts.
Ashley Garley describes the past year as “messy, challenging and heartbreaking.”
A former malaria expert and contractor with the US Agency for International Development, Garley was among the first affected by the Department of Government Efficiency’s sweeping workforce reductions, launched soon after President Donald Trump resumed office.
When the US froze foreign aid in late January 2025, she lost her position. More than a year later, she has yet to secure full-time work with benefits and has taken up a familiar job from her younger years — working as a swim instructor — to help pay the bills.
Shifting from a globe-trotting role with international impact to part-time work at her local county pool in Maryland has been “pretty emotional,” Garley told CNN.