Dr. LaKeshia N. Myers
By LaKeshia N. Myers
The ongoing federal government shutdown is not just a Washington crisis—it’s a family crisis, a community crisis, and most acutely, a Black women’s crisis. As Congress remains deadlocked and the Trump administration uses federal workers as political pawns, the human toll continues to mount. And once again, Black women are bearing the heaviest burden.
The numbers tell a devastating story. In just the past several months, over 300,000 Black women have been pushed out of the workforce. Their unemployment rate has climbed to levels we haven’t seen since the darkest days of the pandemic, now hovering above 6 percent while the national rate remains at 4.2 percent. This isn’t coincidence. This is consequence.
The federal government has long been an economic lifeline for Black women. When the private sector shut its doors, when corporate America refused to see our talents and denied us opportunities, the public sector provided a pathway to stability. Twenty-two percent of Black women in the labor force are government employees—nearly double the rate of workers overall. These aren’t just jobs. They’re mortgages. They’re college tuitions. They’re grocery bills and medical care and the foundation upon which entire families and communities depend.
Now that foundation is crumbling. The Trump administration has issued reduction-in-force notices to more than 4,100 federal workers across seven agencies during the shutdown, targeting departments like Education, Health and Human Services, and Housing and Urban Development—the very agencies where Black women have built their careers serving their communities. When you gut the Department of Education, you’re not just cutting bureaucracy. You’re eliminating teachers, counselors, and administrators who look like the children they serve. When you slash HUD, you’re not just trimming fat. You’re firing the very people who investigate housing discrimination and help families find safe, affordable homes.
Here in Wisconsin, the pain is palpable. Approximately 18,000 federal employees call our state home, and an estimated 8,000 of them have been affected by furloughs. Jessica LaPointe, president of the American Federation of Government Employees’ Council 220 in Madison, represents Social Security Administration workers who are deemed essential—meaning they must show up to work without pay while their bills pile up. “We have to do shutdown math,” LaPointe explained. “We have to look to see what bills we can pay, what bills we should be deferring. Seeing if we need to take out loans. Shuffling money around and relying on family or friends or going without.”
Think about that reality. Going to work every day, serving your fellow Americans, and not knowing when—or if—your next paycheck will come. These are veterans, mothers, caregivers, professionals who have dedicated their careers to public service. And this administration treats them as expendable.
The cruelty is compounded by the political gamesmanship. President Trump himself has admitted he plans to fire “a lot” of federal workers in retaliation for the shutdown, specifically targeting those he perceives as Democrats. Vice President JD Vance has the audacity to claim these layoffs are necessary to preserve programs like WIC and military pay—a statement budget experts have thoroughly debunked. The math simply doesn’t add up, but the damage is very real.
This isn’t just about paychecks. When Black women lose stable employment at this scale, the ripple effects devastate entire communities. We are often the primary breadwinners in our households. We support aging parents, raise children, help siblings, and anchor extended families. When our income disappears, housing becomes unstable, children’s education suffers, healthcare becomes inaccessible, and the cycle of poverty tightens its grip. Economists estimate that the exodus of Black women from the workforce has already cost the U.S. economy more than $37 billion in GDP—money that could have circulated through our neighborhoods, small businesses, and schools.
Meanwhile, a federal judge in California has temporarily halted the Trump administration’s layoff efforts, ruling them unlawful during a shutdown. The unions representing more than 800,000 federal workers have filed lawsuits accusing the administration of using civil servants as pawns for political pressure. But legal victories don’t pay rent. They don’t put food on the table. And they don’t undo the trauma of uncertainty that federal workers are enduring right now.
We must demand better. Republican congressional representatives need to end this manufactured crisis immediately. Federal workers deserve back pay, job security, and the dignity of knowing their service matters. Black women deserve to work in an environment free from political retaliation and discriminatory targeting.
For too long, Black women have been the backbone of America’s economy and the conscience of its democracy. We have done the work, shown up, and persevered through every obstacle placed before us. But we cannot continue to be treated as expendable in service of political theater.
This shutdown needs to end; Republican lawmakers have the power to do this. American families cannot wait. Federal workers cannot wait. Black women cannot wait. And Wisconsin’s 18,000 federal workers cannot wait. Republican members of Congress, do your job so federal workers can do theirs. Our future depends on it.