Monday, Jan. 20, President Trump signed an executive order establishing the Department of Government Efficiency. DOGE has significantly cut the federal government’s budget under the Trump administration.
Many of these funding and workforce cuts have impacted students’ ability at the College of William and Mary to get internships and jobs in public service.
Ryan Silien ’28 described having his USAID-funded internship rescinded due to DOGE cuts to the agency.
“It was devastating,” Silien said. “Personally, because I’m still in a state where I don’t really know what I’m doing this summer.”
Silien’s internship was through the Freeman Intern Fellowship program at the College’s Reves Center for International Studies. His project focused on supporting democratic governance in the Philippines, but the Trump administration canceled all of its USAID funds under its DOGE efforts.
“[The Philippines has] faced a lot of democratic erosion and backsliding recently,” Silien said. “And so, a project like this seemed to me like an amazing way to make an impact and also learn some incredible things, and then before I knew it, it was gone.”
Silien encouraged others going through a similar experience to speak out.
“I don’t think everyone needs to be an activist, but I think especially nowadays, the people impacted by this, maybe have a bit of an obligation to perform activism in some way,” Silien said. “Maybe that’s getting involved in a campaign, but recognizing that there’s a reason why this happened, and if you can, trying to find ways to make things better in the future.”
Aashni Jain ’24 recently graduated from the College and found a job with EnCompass LLC, a USAID-contracted consulting company. Unfortunately, Jain lost her job, and she wrote an online LinkedIn post explaining her situation.
“Unfortunately, like hundreds of others in the industry, I have found myself among those who have been furloughed from their positions tied to USAID contracts because of Stop Work Orders and the federal funding freeze,” Jain said.
Jain went on to express empathy with anyone else who might be in a similar position.
“To anyone else going through this, I’m so sorry,” Jain said. “Sending love and the hope that we will be able to go on with this work soon, even if we are in different roles.”
Mei Mei Mon ’27 also had her environmental consulting internship rescinded due to DOGE cuts.
The job was under The Cloudburst Group, which ensures that construction projects receiving federal funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development do not damage the environment.
“I was more frustrated with my family for the way that they voted,” Mon said. “The funny thing is that I got the internship because it was through the same company that my father works for, and he also voted for Trump.”
Mon believes her internship was especially important because of climate change.
“Climate change is a really big part of making buildings. You have to adjust for higher temperatures and higher storm rates, especially if you’re by the coast, and those were all of the things blatantly being targeted by the cuts,” she said.
Harriman Professor of Government and Public Policy Chris Howard specializes in social policy. He believes these DOGE cuts are a concerted effort by the Trump administration to weaken the federal government.
“I think there’s a broad scale effort to damage the federal government’s ability to function [with the Trump administration] trying to move as quickly as possible to break as many parts of government as possible before Congress and the courts can stop them,” Howard said. “Students are looking at pain just like millions of other Americans, and it’s going to be dislocating not only for them but also for many of their parents.”
Howard shared that he’s encouraged students looking for jobs in public service to consider state and local government.
“Some of us have encouraged students, even before this year, to think about getting jobs in state and local government because there are more of them, and they’ve been growing more rapidly than at the national government level,” Howard said. “Oftentimes in those smaller settings, students can get more responsibility sooner than they would working in a larger federal agency.”
Howard had advice for students who might be struggling with internships or jobs.
“I’ve had a number of students over the years who’ve had good success working with the career center, so I would suggest going to them for help,” Howard said. “I think it’s also worthwhile to be casting a wide net in the types of jobs that you’d be interested in.”
Howard added that he recommends students continue doing what they can to find work after college, even if it’s not what they directly want.
“I encourage almost all of my seniors to think about working after college rather than going to grad school right away,” Howard said. “You may not be able to find the job right after college that you’re going to stick with for years, but it’s a start, and it’s a beginning, and it’ll sort of give you an opportunity to look around for something better or something different.”
Howard also sympathizes with students who might be going through a lot right now.
“My heart goes out to any number of people these days, and I know that students are not only thinking about jobs and careers but also financial aid and immigration status,” he said.
Mon agrees that students are especially feeling the impacts of these cuts right now.
“I really hate the argument that, oh, well, it doesn’t directly affect me, but it does. It affects everybody. Everyone is a target, and to say that it doesn’t affect you is just ignorant,” Mon said.
