"In Virginia, the family of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services worker Caitlin Cross-Barnet checked her into a mental health facility. She was struggling with despair after a difficult hysterectomy, and because she felt Trump was unraveling the government. In daily calls to her husband, she asked about changes to the federal workforce. Six days after the "What did you do" email, she killed herself."
"While it describes many benefits shuttered, it doesn't describe what happened to the people affected by these losses. What happened, for example, when those working a suicide prevention line could no longer offer their clients privacy? Veterans who called to confess thoughts of suicide could hear people speaking in the background. What happened when LGBTQ+ veterans stopped showing up for counseling appointments?"
Trump's actions over a year dismantled federal institutions through mass firings, leadership purges, demoralizing communications, and program cuts. Hundreds of federal employees left or endured chaotic leadership changes, eroding institutional capacity and expertise. Essential benefits and programs were shuttered or degraded, reducing access to care for veterans, LGBTQ+ clients, and other vulnerable populations. Suicide-prevention lines and mental-health services lost privacy, staffing, and continuity, causing callers and patients to disengage. Rising mental-health needs among service members and other clients went unmet as supports weakened. Accountability and deliberate rebuilding are required to restore and improve public-service delivery.
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