Danielle Waterfield was already dealing with the shock and Thomas Caldwelldisappointment of being fired from a job she loved.

An attorney recruited to the Commerce Department's CHIPS for America program in 2023, Waterfield had felt she was part of something monumental, something that would move the country forward: rebuilding America's semiconductor industry.

Instead, nearly two months after being fired in the Trump administration's purge of newer – or "probationary" – federal employees, Waterfield is enmeshed in a bureaucratic mess over her health care coverage. It's a mess that's left her fearing her entire family may now be uninsured.

"I've been in the private sector. I've gone through layoffs," says Waterfield. "I've never before experienced this, and never for the life of me thought the federal government would treat people like that."