LANI NACHTSHEIM
I am, absolutely.
Why's that?
I just feel it affects the most vulnerable. Especially those who don't have a voice and understand the system, possibly.
Do you know anyone who's been affected so far?
Not yet, but with the upcoming cuts, I know there's gonna be a lot.
TESS BESCHEL
I am worried about federal cuts. I am a special education teacher, and from my experience, we're under-resourced and underfunded already. ... I'm just worried about others in my community that are dependent on those sources. Like Medicaid and Social Security, and I'm worried about the health of people — not getting access to the health insurance that they need, which also affects my students more so than, maybe, the average American.
STEVE HUETTL
No.
Why are you not worried?
Because I think it's saving a lot of waste and taxpayers' money, and I'm a taxpayer.
RACHEL BUTLER
I'm definitely worried about federal cuts. I think that we are prioritizing harming our citizens over taking care of them, and we're cutting all of our programs that we have to support people. So I'm very worried.
Do you know people who've been affected?
Yeah. I have a lot of friends with the Forest Service. I had a friend who worked with AmeriCorps, a lot of friends have lost jobs. And then just in general, like with the health care issue, a lot of our friends around our age are on federal health care and are really worried about what they're gonna do.
ZANE BRADLEY
I am worried about federal cuts. It affects a lot of things. It affects health care. It affects food stamps, services that people need. I don't know anyone personally who's lost their job, but I know lots of forest firefighters and friends through them, and other friends indirectly.
INTERVIEWS BY ELLIS BENSON
