Today, 1 October 2025, is the beginning of the next fiscal year, FY2026.
Yesterday was the official date of separation for dozens of my former colleagues, friends, and mentors who chose the deferred retirement option offered earlier this year. I can’t help but feel a sense of deep loss and sadness at this unnecessary exodus.
And today is the beginning of a government shutdown because Congress couldn’t agree on a spending bill. So I will be furloughed from my federal job starting today. Rumors are that this furlough is going to be used to illegally fire many more federal workers.
Unlike the highest ranking civilians in charge of the federal government these days, I am bound by laws and an oath I took to support and defend the Constitution, so I am not going to tell you my opinions about this, or give you a call to action. I’ll simply state that whether you are one of the ~70 million people who actively chose this, or you are one of the 90 million who allowed it when you refused to vote last November, it’s not too late to contact your elected representatives and tell them how you feel about the situation we find ourselves in. I trust democracy, even in a country filled with people who seem intent on maintaining an ignorant, alternative reality, and I trust that if everyone adds their voice to demand a fix, those in power will eventually have to listen to reason.
While we sit at home, mostly helpless, and wait for this situation to be resolved by those elected representatives, I will try to set aside the anxiety and stress of not knowing what my personal fate will be, and will try to treat this the way I have treated previous shutdowns. In the past, they have been too brief to harm me and my family – a privilege that I know is not shared by everyone – and the law provides back pay once we we return to work. If the law still matters.
Finding myself with extra time on my hands in the house should mean that I get to dive a little deeper into the Callan One Name Study, and maybe take some time to write the sort of genealogy posts that I don’t usually have time to write.
Here’s to hope.
Say hello, cousin!