When Katherine Ann Reniers bought a house in Rockville, Maryland, two years ago, she thought her financial future was mapped out.
Reniers, 53, was on track to have served two decades in the federal government in November 2025. At that point, she’d be eligible for a pension that paid out nearly $6,000 a month and covered health insurance, according to documents reviewed by Business Insider. Those monthly retirement checks would rise for every year Reniers worked beyond her 20-year anniversary.
Reniers’ plans abruptly changed in March, when she received emails notifying her that her position at the US Agency for International Development would be abolished on July 1 as part of sweeping layoffs known as a reduction in force ordered by the White House’s DOGE office — five months short of Reniers’ 20-year anniversary.
The gap means Reniers won’t be able to receive her full federal pension until she’s 62, and based on federal rules for foreign service retirement, her monthly payments will be an estimated $3,000 less than she planned.
“I’ve been panicking,” Reniers, a single mom of two children, told BI. “I realized it wasn’t enough to cover my monthly mortgage and medical bills.”
Reniers is among tens of thousands of government employees whose lives have been upended by DOGE’s moves to shrink federal agencies and cut costs. The changes are creating economic uncertainty for many Americans, especially those close to retirement.
An administration official told BI that “the State Department is committed to offering additional resources and benefits to ensure the safety and security of USAID employees transitioning from service.”
Reniers thought she was ‘essential’
After DOGE arrived at USAID in January, chaos ensued. Employees received the “fork in the road” email offering full pay and benefits through September to those who voluntarily resigned. They were temporarily locked out of computer systems and told to stay home as the Washington, DC headquarters was shut down.
In February, Reniers said leadership initially told her that she was an “essential” employee. Reniers rose to be division chief for Europe at USAID’s Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance. The bureau provides food, water and sanitation, shelter, and emergency healthcare to people facing various crises around the world. Reniers’ division covered Ukraine, Turkey, and other countries.
It made Reniers think she was safe from widespread layoffs.
“So I did not take the Fork, and now I’m shooting myself in the foot,” Reniers said.
On February 24, Reniers received an email stating that she was being placed on administrative leave and that a subordinate would take over her duties. On March 27, she was informed that her position was being abolished.
Another email asked employees to volunteer to “support critical work” while the agency shifts tasks to the State Department. Reniers said she plans to return for a few weeks because her colleagues are burned out and need help.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio on March 28 notified Congress of the reorganization and previously said about 83% of the agency’s programs had been cut.
Backup plan
Meanwhile, Reniers said she’s had panic attacks while trying to figure out a backup financial plan. She wasn’t planning to retire for at least another four years, when her son will graduate from high school.
Now that Reniers won’t reach 20 years of federal service, she estimated her pension benefits will be about half of what she would’ve qualified for in November. For foreign service employees with less than two decades of service, monthly retirement calculations follow this formula: an employee’s highest annual salary, multiplied by 20, multiplied by 1%, and divided by 12. Reniers earned $177,200 a year, making her new pension a little under $3,000 a month under that formula.
If she had made it to 20 years, that 1% would instead have been 1.7%. That higher rate, along with a supplemental annuity, would have given her a pension of around $6,000 a month — about double what she expects to get now.
Further, while she could have retired at any time after her 20th anniversary and received that full pension, she won’t be eligible for the smaller pension until she turns 62.
Reniers will receive a severance package worth one year’s annual salary and is also planning to sell an apartment she owns in Belgium to help establish a financial safety net for monthly expenses.
“I’m lucky I have that, so I can make sure to keep my home in Maryland,” she said. “How do I find a job with a similar salary when I’m 53 with a disability?”
When Reniers is 59, she can start receiving payments from a separate federal retirement account known as a Thrift Savings Plan without penalty. At 62, her pension and Social Security kicks in.
In the near term, finding affordable health insurance is Reniers’ top concern. She was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis several years ago and has biweekly injections of medication to manage inflammation and joint pain. Once she is laid off on July 1, she’ll have federal health insurance through the end of the month but then need to find another policy for her family, which will likely be more expensive.
“I’m so angry right now,” Reniers said, adding that participating in protests and talking to lawmakers on Capitol Hill is helping ease some of the anxiety. “That’s what I want to spend my time on.”
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The post A federal worker was months away from a full pension when DOGE laid her off. Now she’ll get $3,000 less per month. appeared first on Business Insider.
