It’s been over a year since President Donald Trump and his Department of Government Efficiency made massive cuts to the federal work force. And earlier this month, the President praised himself for cutting what’s believed to be hundreds of thousands of federal employees as part of his DOGE initiative.
“We terminated a lot of federal jobs that were unnecessary," the president said. "And they don’t like me for doing it, but a year later they like me cause they have a much better job.”
But 30-year-old Sarah Nichols, an implementing partner with USAID until she was canned by DOGE, disagrees.
“I wish I still had savings left," Nichols told Radio IQ. "I feel very unstable.”
According to Nichols, her old gig was what DOGE was tasked with doing; searching for and eliminating waste and fraud in the international aid space. As a third-party watchdog, she was ensuring the government wasn’t watching itself. But now she can’t find work as the international relief industry, she said, was decimated by DOGE.
“Save the Children, World Vision, Catholic relief services. They were all the top donors at USAID, and I know colleagues that worked at them and they had huge impacts on their services,” she said.
As for those faith-based relief agencies, Kristen Larcher, Director of refugee and immigration services at Commonwealth Catholic Charities, also disagrees with the president's assessment.
“We are trying to do more with less," Larcher told Radio IQ, noting drops in federal funds have led to a demand for new relationships locally. "We’re trying to use our community partnerships more.”
DOGE cuts forced CCC's refugee assistance program to slash their staff in half when federal funds were cut by about 80 percent. That’s made it harder to support the people they serve war refugees from Syria and Ukraine, as well as Afghans who aided US troops in the conflict there. There’s also been a drastic cut in the number of refugees admitted, in which Larcher finds a tiny silver lining.
“We do have a little bit more time, we’re trying to take advantage of that," Larcher said. "We’re trying to provide more tailored, one on one assistance."
But that shred of optimism may be short lived; Larcher is expecting more federal cuts to impact their work in 2027.
