by Former Federal Employees, coming in 2026
Excerpts from some of the letters we have received
Over 150,000 people resigned from the federal government last year. Nothing like that has happened in the history of the United States.
The vast majority of those 150,000 workers opted for the DRP—the Deferred Resignation Program. Elon Musk ran a similar initiative when he took over at Twitter/X.
Over the course of 2025, many other federal employees, including thousands who didn’t take the DRP, found themselves in positions where they felt they had to resign. Some felt that policy shifts under the new administration went against their sense of the public good. Other workers received instructions that undermined Congressional oversight, violated public trust, or broke federal laws.
We are interested in what they had to say as they left.
In 2026, Bicycle Comics will publish a new anthology: a collection of federal resignation letters. We seek input from all executive branch departments and agencies, from the Department of Agriculture to the National Zoo.
Your resignation was a moment. Let’s preserve it as part of a historical record.
Notify me when the book comes out
| Agency | Submissions |
|---|---|
| Admin. for Children and Families | 1 |
| Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services | 1 |
| Citizenship and Immigration Service | 1 |
| Customs and Border Protection | 1 |
| Dept. of Energy | 4 |
| Dept. of Homeland Security | 1 |
| Dept. of Justice | 5 |
| Dept. of Labor | 1 |
| Dept. of Transportation | 1 |
| Equal Employment Opportunity Commission | 1 |
| Federal Highway Admin. | 1 |
| Federal Trade Commission | 1 |
| Federal Transit Admin. | 1 |
| FEMA | 1 |
| HUD | 2 |
| National Institute on Drug Abuse | 1 |
| National Institutes of Health | 1 |
| National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin. | 1 |
| National Park Service | 2 |
| Social Security Admin. | 1 |
| US Digital Service | 3 |
| US Fish and Wildlife Service | 1 |
| USAID | 1 |
| USDA | 2 |
| Veterans Affairs | 3 |
| Agencies and departments are tallied once, at the most specific level. Thus, a letter from a former FBI agent would be counted as FBI, not as Department of Justice. Figures are accurate as of early March 2026. Not all letters submitted will appear in the final book. |
|
Send a letter for consideration
1. They cut my email access, but I posted a goodbye message on social media. Does that count?
Yes, 100%, absolutely. If you sent an email to your coworkers or posted a goodbye on LinkedIn when you left, that counts. Send it in!
2. I just filled out a form, then I told my manager I was taking DRP. Can I be in the book?
Maybe. If you have anything written, or a screenshot, we'll take a look.
3. I was RIF'd. Can I be in the book?
This book will focus on resignations and retirements. We know that whole departments got cut, and we're so sorry you got RIF'd.
4. I resigned last week. Can I be in the book?
We'd be delighted to read your letter, but chances are we're going to focus on 2025.
5. I was ready to retire anyway, so the DRP was fine with me. My “resignation letter” just said “Thanks for 21 great years.” Do you still want to read it?
We would love to read it! Not everybody quit with a jazzy speech or scorching-hot letter. Send it in!
6. My former manager wrote a first-rate email when she resigned. Can I send you her letter?
Yes…but. We have a separate form for submitting other people's letters. We will try to track them down so we can talk it over and confirm details.
7. Can I submit my letter anonymously?
We will only publish a letter if we can do so using your real name and former job title. Other redactions are possible. But our goal is to have an accurate, reliable historical account.
8. Why is a comics and poetry publisher doing this book?
We're in the business of telling good stories. The decimation of the federal workforce is the most interesting, most important story in the world right now. Whatever particular issue you care about—war with Iran, ocean plastics, marginal tax rates, Chinese tariffs—that issue has changed profoundly because over 200,000 federal employees left public service.
We may commission a few color plates to illustrate some particularly vivid letters, but 99% of this book will be the letters we select and some expert commentary from historians and legal scholars.
Send a letter for consideration
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