Will Everything Be OK?

No one can promise, but we can prepare. Put your plan into action.

Photo by the author. Boston, Massachusetts, December 17, 2016

A year ago, a week after Trump’s second inauguration, the U.S. federal workforce — about 2 million people — received an opportunity to resign. The so-called “Fork in the Road” offer was: return to work in the office in-person, five days a week, as in pre-covid times, or resign with a promise of several months of full pay and benefits. Those who didn’t wish to work for Trump supposedly could leave and take the payout.

Relatively few workers accepted this offer, in part because Trump is known to lie and the offer’s validity and enforceability was not trusted.

Three days after the offer was made, a lawyer for the U.S. National Labor Relations Board sent an internal memo that was shared publicly. Her wording spoke to me at the time.

Jessica Rutter, who was exceedingly briefly serving as NLRB acting general counsel, wrote on January 31, 2025:

I know that the past few days and nights have been extremely scary and distressing for some of us. I am writing to share the information that I have and to share some best practices that have been previously shared with me regarding how to survive what’s happening.

She maintained that, in her opinion,

we are legally obligated to comply with the commitments the Agency has made in our collective bargaining agreements, with all of our legal obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act, including reasonable accommodation, and with all of our legal obligations under other EEO laws (e.g. EEO settlements).

She continued:

At this moment, no matter what I say there is uncertainty. I cannot promise you that everything is going to be OK.

She said she’d do her end of the work, and that others should too:

I can promise you that I will be standing with the employees of this Agency to effectuate our mission and because I know many of you personally, I know that you will be doing the same.

Finally:

Take a moment to think through what is helpful for you and put a plan into practice.

Bluesky

Trump fired her the next day.

I think of this message from time to time because its essential structure seems to possess a timeless quality.

Uncertainty is a fact of life. We can promise each other we’ll keep doing the work. We can iteratively take this ongoing moment — perhaps a state of mind, really, or an attitude about existence — to think about what we need and to prepare.