The Trump administration’s sweeping changes have left some groups fearing their jobs and livelihoods could be next on DOGE’s chopping block. One Georgetown University psychology professor says it has driven a growing number of people to therapy.
“I’m getting an increased amount of inquiries from people who are just feeling very anxious in general, and it’s exacerbated by the state of the country,” Dr. Andrea Bonior told Fox News Digital.
Groups like federal workers, humanitarians and academics are at the helm of her caseload as billionaire CEO Elon Musk’s cost-cutting efforts take aim at federal jobs, grants and programs, she explained. Many of Bonior’s concerned patients come from the Washington, D.C. area, where, in addition to teaching at Georgetown, she sees patients in her part-time private practice.
Bonior says many people with ties to the federal government or federal funding are experiencing “real concerns” about “potential instability” for their families.
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President Donald Trump speaks to reporters after landing at Palm Beach International Airport in Florida, Feb. 16, 2025, after attending the NASCAR Daytona 500. (Pool via AP)
“I’ve had some clients who were technically probationary workers because they had gotten promotions, so they had been longtime civil servants, public servants, but they were treated like someone who was just coming out of college and getting their first job because they were probationary,” she shared.
“They were probationary because they were in a new position, having been promoted for having done such a great job.”
DOGE, spearheaded by billionaire SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, was established at the onset of President Trump’s second term with the intention of identifying and eliminating waste, fraud and abuse as well as streamlining government functions before a scheduled dissolution date of July 4, 2026.
Trump lauded Musk as a “real patriot” in a “Sunday Morning Futures” exclusive interview that aired over the weekend for, in his words, “opening a lot of eyes” to the wasteful spending that the temporary agency has identified. Trump has instructed his cabinet secretaries to cooperate with DOGE on staffing, giving instructions to the agency heads to use a “scalpel” when deciding which workers will remain in their jobs.
Bonior said she has also heard from many who have experienced “ripple effects” of the changes imposed at DOGE’s request, including those who have ties to agencies with humanitarian focuses or non-governmental organizations like nonprofit groups.
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Elon Musk speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Feb. 20, 2025, in Oxon Hill, Maryland. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
“Angst” and “concern” over policy changes are also affecting some of Bonior’s colleagues, namely researchers and scientists in the higher education realm.
Veterans are another impacted group, she said, particularly the considerable number employed by the federal government who may be impacted – or have already been impacted – by DOGE cuts.
Bonior also sees telehealth patients from states across the U.S. and says her inbox is flooded with wide-ranging concerns that touch on several topics even outside DOGE’s scope.
“I think there’s a larger concern that goes beyond policy, and I’m actually, in the past couple of days, hearing from a lot of people who are just concerned about financial insecurity and concerned about the just destabilization of even the stock markets and even people who consider themselves to be not having anything to do with this,” she said, adding, “I think there’s just a larger concern that the whole tone of this administration feels different.”
Bonior told Axios in a recent report that she has seen an uptick in the number of dissatisfied Democrats seeking help as they experience “burnout, guilt and despair” at losing an “old way of life.”
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Following up on that note, she told Fox News Digital that the concerns extend across party lines, affecting Republicans who work for the federal government and are concerned about funding for scientific research being stifled or perhaps even conservative evangelical Christians who support humanitarian aid and are unhappy about cuts to those programs.
“Contrary to maybe popular belief, there are plenty of Republicans that work in the federal government that are being directly affected. There are plenty of Republicans who care immensely about scientific research and solving medical problems that face this country, and cancer research and Alzheimer’s research and research on childhood disorders… there are lots of conservative Christians who really are concerned with the humanitarian aid cuts and… I think that’s where it really goes to an issue that’s no longer a political issue. I think there are a lot of people who feel that this is a moral issue,” she said.
At one point, she added, “I’ve heard from several folks that have said… ‘I admit this [DOGE] sounded good in theory. Maybe I even voted for Trump, but now I’m feeling completely abandoned because my job is on the chopping block.'”
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Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment on this story. Principal deputy press secretary Harrison Fields provided the following statement in response:
“President Trump returned to Washington with a mandate from the American people to bring about unprecedented change in our federal government to uproot waste, fraud, and abuse. This isn’t easy to do in a broken system entrenched in bureaucracy and bloat, but it’s a task long overdue. The personal financial situation of every American is top of mind for the President, which is why he’s working to cut regulations, reshore jobs, lower taxes, and make government more efficient.”
