Five months in, the pattern is undeniable. Federal employees purged overnight. University research teams eliminated mid-study. Community public health programs shuttered while communities face health crises. Human services supporting people with disabilities threatened with rollbacks.
Trump isn't just cutting budgets — he's punishing workers for doing what’s right.
If you're a public servant, researcher, educator, community worker, or work in any federally-funded role, you know this reality: the skills that made you valuable now make you vulnerable. You're forced to choose between your values and your job.
This is coordinated warfare against the infrastructure of care and the values of democracy.
The Five-Front Assault
Trump's regime targets public servants across five specific areas:
1. Your Work Gets Twisted - Programs serving vulnerable communities get quietly ended or rebranded beyond recognition
2. Colleagues Become Strangers - Fear fractures workplace relationships as people retreat into protective silence
3. Values Become Liabilities - You're pressured to stay silent about policies that harm the people you serve
4. Bodies Break Down - Chronic stress settles into your nervous system as you navigate daily threats to job security
5. Truth Gets Weaponized - Language you trusted gets turned against you; "evidence-based" becomes dangerous to say
Sound familiar? You're not imagining it. And you're not alone.
Fighting Back: Strategic Positioning Moves
These aren't coping tips — they're resistance tactics for staying effective while under attack:
→ Document requests that violate professional standards - Keep private records with dates and specific language
→ Schedule coffee meetings away from the office - Create safe spaces for honest conversation with trusted colleagues
→ Use qualifying language when forced to communicate harmful policies - "Per the directive" creates distance from decisions you oppose
→ Practice strategic silence in group settings - Let others reveal their positions while you assess the room
→ Ask for written clarification of vague directives - Force clarity and create documentation
→ Keep personal copies of official messages before they change - Policies get revised; having originals protects against gaslighting
→ Build relationships with people in adjacent agencies - Cultivate connections beyond your compromised workplace
These moves protect your capacity to serve while preparing for what comes next.
The Stakes
Every public servant who burns out or gets forced out weakens our collective capacity to resist. Every expert silenced makes democracy more fragile.
Your expertise matters. Your mission matters. Staying effective under assault isn't just personal survival — it's protecting the infrastructure we'll need to rebuild.
The 2026 midterms are our chance to check this destruction. We need public servants intact and organized, not broken and scattered.
Your resistance starts with refusing to let them break you.
What tactics are working for you? Share in comments.
In solidarity,
Paul
Remember: Stay human. Stay strategic. Shape tomorrow.
