[bombcar]

Think why they're asking the question.

They don't really care what you were doing, they want to know if you got fired or couldn't work well.

The second is actually part of the issue based on what you've said. I'd either have a good answer, or simply state what happened.

"I had the ability to take some time off to work on moving to government IT, but recent changes have made me realize that it's not the career path for me."