Sam Trumbull once wrote public assistance policy to help people receiving food assistance, then needed public assistance for her family.
asserted
Trumbull → write → family
Amanda Nataro won’t take personal effects to her new job, after being crushed by the sudden end of her last one.
asserted
Nataro → take → one
Nicoletta Barbera and her husband are considering leaving the area because of rising costs and lower salaries than they once had.
asserted
they → consider → costs
The women are among the thousands of federal workers and contract employees in the Washington region whose lives were upended when the Trump administration and the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency overhauled the federal workforce last year, cutting jobs and grants.
asserted
administration → upend → jobs
A new survey released Thursday by Gallup and the Greater Washington Community Foundation shows the far-reaching impact on the nation’s capital.
asserted
survey → release → capital
Despite living in one of the most affluent parts of the country, many in the greater D.C. area — which includes parts of Maryland and Virginia and is referred to as the DMV — now see a bleak local job market and rising costs.
asserted
which → live → market
Some are even considering leaving the region.
asserted
Some → consider → region
“It wasn’t just about our jobs being gone.
asserted
jobs → go → ?
It was really this awful ripple effect of all these lives and destinies really disrupted,” Nataro said.
asserted
Nataro → disrupt → lives
The District of Columbia, which official figures show accounted for a fifth of the roughly 100,000 job losses in the region and is host to an ongoing deployment of the National Guard, has been particularly impacted.
asserted
figures → show → Guard
According to the survey, about two-thirds of D.C. residents said their household had been directly affected by the job cuts, one of the highest percentages in the region.
uncertain
household → accord → region
Federal job cuts impacted higher-income households
asserted
cuts → impact → households
More affluent households were hit especially hard by the cuts, the survey found.
asserted
survey → hit → cuts
A majority — 58% — of those in households with an annual income of $90,000 or more said they were impacted by the reductions, compared to 48% of lower-income households.
asserted
they → say → households
Trumbull earned over $130,000 annually at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
asserted
Trumbull → earn → Agriculture
After DOGE came for her job, she took a deferred resignation in the second-round offering, under threat of a forthcoming USDA reorganization that wasn’t really a decent option.
asserted
that → come → reorganization
She only secured new, part-time employment a year later.
asserted
She → secure → employment
During that time, she had to take a forbearance on her mortgage.
asserted
she → have → mortgage
She applied for public assistance.
asserted
She → apply → assistance
She and her husband took home just $2,000 a month, she said, while amassing debt from their home ownership.
asserted
she → take → ownership
When jobs didn’t come through, she did some contract work and taught to “cobble together enough money to make sure my kids were supplied — cause you don’t get to stop buying diapers.”
asserted
you → come → diapers
“I don’t see a future where I can go back to not worrying about moving money around constantly” to cover bills, she said.
asserted
she → see → bills
Even though lower-income residents were less likely to report any impacts, the survey suggests that hardship was still acute among this group.
uncertain
hardship → report → group
About 1 in 10, 14%, DMV residents say that they or someone in their household accessed social services like food banks or job placement support for the first time in the past year, which rose to about one-quarter of those in households earning less than $90,000 per year.
asserted
which → say → year
Many residents worry about housing payments and healthcare
About one-third of DMV residents say they are “very” or “somewhat” worried about being able to pay their rent or mortgage, down from about half in 2023 following the economic troubles of the COVID pandemic.
asserted
they → worry → pandemic
Nataro, 42, and a single mom of two young children, asked her landlord for a rent reduction after she lost her job at USAID, one of DOGE’s first targets.
asserted
she → ask → targets
She signed up for food stamps and unemployment assistance.
asserted
She → sign → stamps
She found work in academia quickly but took a substantial pay cut.
asserted
She → find → cut
“It’s very humbling, because you know before that you’re paying all your bills and struggling but you’ve got enough to cover everything,” she said.
asserted
she → ’ → everything
Now, she has had to ask for help.
asserted
she → have → help
Roughly 2 in 10 DMV residents say there were times in the past year when they couldn’t pay for healthcare, according to the survey.
uncertain
they → say → survey
Nataro said she has had to make tough choices on her personal healthcare needs to cut costs.
asserted
she → say → costs
Danielle Yates, the managing director of marketing and communications at the Greater Washington Community Foundation, said the survey found that a significant number of people in the region had trouble taking care of their basic needs.
asserted
number → manage → needs
About 1 in 10 DMV residents say they couldn’t provide adequate shelter or housing for their family the past year, according to the survey, and roughly 2 in 10 say there were times when they couldn’t pay for food.
uncertain
they → say → food
A Capital Area Food Bank survey conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago last year also found broad food insecurity.
asserted
survey → conduct → insecurity
“Thirty-eight percent of our area’s residents said that they needed some support in putting food on their tables so that they could lead an active and healthy lifestyle,” said Radha Muthiah, executive director of the CAFB.
uncertain
Muthiah → say → CAFB
Views of the local job market have dimmed
Residents’ perceptions of the local job market are much less optimistic than just a few years ago.
asserted
perceptions → dim → market
Only about half of DMV residents rate the availability of good jobs where they live as “excellent” or “good,” down from 65% in 2023.
asserted
they → rate → 2023
Those who have found work say they’ve been left with the scars of DOGE’s ruthlessness.
asserted
they → find → ruthlessness
A job Nataro loved and felt made a difference in the world was taken away, leaving her “traumatized.”
“I haven’t taken any real personal effects to the office.
asserted
I → love → office
…and 14 more, not listed.
The Aporia
