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His wife was dying, his federal job in limbo. He questions his vote for Trump. But still backs him [1]
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Date: 2025-09-20
Edward Brandon Beckham was a husband, father, federal employee, Christian, and Trump voter. Now his wife is dead. And he is wondering about his political choices.
Brandon (he goes by his middle name) believed Trump would cure what ailed America. He was one of the 40% of federal workers who supported the man who campaigned on cutting the federal workforce. Why? Brandon bought Trump’s rhetoric, which he thought reflected his own conservative values. And he believed Trump’s boast about ending the Russia-Ukraine War double-quick.
The Washington Post described Brandon’s feelings about Trump’s election
For a while, Trump’s victory in November seemed another blessing. Brandon, a lifelong Republican who had voted twice for Trump — after writing in Rick Santorum in 2016 — didn’t always like how the president spoke, but he believed what he said. Trump would stabilize and strengthen the American economy, Brandon thought. He would be a dominant leader on the world stage, forcing countries into peace agreements and trade deals. Brandon liked the president’s plan to streamline government and eliminate “waste, fraud and abuse,” too.
However, like everyone who has put their trust in the perfidious conman, Brandon discovered his faith was misplaced. And he is suffering the consequences of his beliefs. WaPo outlined what happened next.
Brandon’s circumstances added salt to the wound. He had been on leave from his post at the Bureau of Land Management to tend to his terminally sick wife of 21 years. Mikel Beckham lay in a hospital dying of colon cancer. Under the terms of his leave, Brandon was not required to check his government email. Thus, he missed the announcement that federal employees could resign in the spring and still be paid through September.
This arrangement would have allowed him to keep his income while he spent time with his wife during her last few months. But Brandon didn’t know about the program until he saw it on the news. And when he applied, he had missed the deadline by three days. He hoped that compassion would grant him an extension. In an email to his bosses, he wrote:
“As my wife is continuing in Hospice and I am her continuing caretaker, at this time, I am formally requesting that I be placed on Administrative Leave until a deferred resignation date of Sept. 30, 2025. Considering my circumstances, I respectfully request that I be allowed to participate.”
Had it been a different administration, his request might have been approved. But in the current zeitgeist, the result was forgone. Four days after Brandon submitted his request to resign, a human resources officer responded.
“Per the department, you cannot be considered for this, since you missed the application window.”
To keep his income, Brandon would have to report to a federal building in Las Vegas more than 70 miles away. The round-trip commute would take three hours. Time he would not spend with his three children, Elias, 21; Hannah, 18; and Gabriel, 14, for whom he would soon be the only parent and sole provider.
Faced with this prospect, Brandon sent a second email within hours saying applying for both the April resignation program and an earlier one, offered in January. He attached a screenshot of Trump administration guidance saying agencies could offer “reasonable extensions” to workers who “missed the ... deadline due to approved absence.”
Brandon sent further messages saying:
“Please note, I am not seeking to be adversarial,” “My request for extension is based on my being on approved leave because my wife of 21 years is dying.” “This is exactly the type of request that objectively would fall within the characterization of reasonable.”
In late April, Mikel died.
Brandon planned to tell his bosses that his wife had passed and that he was requesting bereavement leave. But when he went to do so, he saw a message saying:
“You are expected to return to work in-person at BLM, Southern Nevada District Office.” It gave a Las Vegas address where Brandon would have to report “on a full-time basis starting on your first scheduled workday the week of June 15.”
Two days later, Brandon’s phone rang. The caller introduced himself as a human resources officer at BLM. Following is their conversation as Brandon remembers it:
HR officer: “I just wanted to let you know they’re denying it [Brandon’s request to resign.].” Brandon: “Do they know my wife passed?” HR: “No, I told them that.” Brandon: “Dude. That’s, like, sick cold.” HR: “I know. I’m just the middle man.”
Brandon tried a third time to take part in the deferred resignation program. He emailed a handful of the most senior people he could think of, including the BLM chief of staff and a top human capital officer.
“I have 10 years of service with the Federal government. This is a very cold response. … I just want to focus on caring for my 3 kids right now, focus on the details for my wife’s memorial service.”
On May 1, the government rejected his third attempt to resign in a two-sentence email: “The request for consideration of … acceptance at this time has been denied by the Department.”
Finally, Brandon understood the full scope of what he voted for. In his journal, he wrote:
“I’m disappointed in this administration, specifically Pres. Trump’s failure as a leader.” Trump, Brandon scrawled, was “abandoning his commitment to ensuring that the common person is protected.”
The bad news piled up. WaPo reported:
Fifteen days after Mikel’s death, Brandon’s phone buzzed with a call from the funeral home director. Finally, he thought: It was time to pick up his wife’s remains. But that wasn’t why the woman was calling. “We haven’t been able to verify Mikel’s insurance,” Brandon remembered her saying, stumbling slightly over the words. “So we haven’t cremated her.” Brandon almost dropped the phone. He told himself not to picture his wife’s body lying in storage. When he could speak again, he asked: “Why not?” “Well, I’ve called two to three times a day,” the director said, “but we haven’t been able to get a hold of OPM [Office of Personnel management].”
Mikel had also been a federal employee at BLM. Brandon thought her government life insurance would cover the cost of cremation. But first, OPM had to OK the expense.
Brandon tried nine times to get through to OPM. No answer. On the 10th attempt, after getting a massage to hold, he was finally connected to a harried employee after 40 minutes. She promised someone would look into the matter and reply to the funeral home. But no one did. So on May 8, 16 days after Mikel died, Brandon charged $1,729.60 for her cremation to his credit card.
Note: When Mikel had initially become too sick to work, Brandon had called OPM. Someone had picked up immediately, he remembered, and helped him negotiate Mikel’s early retirement and disability benefits. That call was during the Biden administration.
WaPo contacted OPM for information on Brandon’s odyssey. An official replied in a written statement that “call wait times ... is unfortunately an issue we’re frustrated with and predates this administration,” noting the agency is “working to create a more efficient system.”
Lies on top of lies.
Brandon requested deferred retirement a fourth time. He addressed this email to the Secretary of the Interior and to Stephanie Holmes, the agency’s acting chief human capital officer. “Please have some compassion on my situation,” he wrote, attaching a copy of his wife’s statement of death.
Almost two weeks later, Holmes replied to say he could resign. “Please find attached an agreement for your review and signature,” she wrote, signing off with “kind regards.”
It had taken time and emotional devastation, but finally, Brandon had some good news. But there was one more twist of the knife. He had been accepted into the second resignation offer, which placed most employees on paid leave starting in late April. Under that schedule, he would receive what amounted to four weeks of badly needed back pay, as his paid leave had run out a month earlier.
But, even though Brandon had initially requested deferred resignation on April 12th, BLM only granted him paid leave starting on May 21st. He was out a whole month’s pay after all. Brandon appealed.
Amazingly, even after Trump’s policies had made his life with his dying wife a living hell, Brandon cannot quit the cult. He told his son Elias on the day after Mikel’s memorial service:
“I think what I’m saying, the point I’m making about how he’s bringing in his business mentality — that is who he is. You know what I mean? He is who he is. … There’s a genuineness to that.”
WaPo’s report ended:
It was too soon, Brandon felt, to give up on Trump’s vision for America. The president was a strong leader, making difficult decisions as he fought for a better future. Some people were going to suffer along the way. It was okay, Brandon decided, if he and his family were among those hurt. Trump, he told Elias, still had his support.
The next morning brought a final email from Holmes: The government would not grant Brandon’s plea for back pay.
[END]
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