Students are wary about job security and considering prioritizing careers outside of the federal government as the Department of Government Efficiency continues to shrink the federal workforce under President Donald Trump.
More than 25 students said they are considering steering away from their desired fields in government and instead into the private sector as they worry the Trump administration’s shakeup will limit their ability to get federal jobs in the future. DOGE — headed by entrepreneur Elon Musk — intends to reduce government spending by slimming the workforce behind agencies related to public health, foreign aid and education, suddenly leaving more than 105,961 government workers without jobs and canceling thousands of internships.
Milken Institute of Public Health graduate student Elizabeth Larky-Savin, a member of the Health Policy Student Association, said she was selected as a semifinalist for the Department of Interior’s Presidential Management Fellows Program, an initiative launched by the late President Jimmy Carter, which aims to develop future federal government leaders. Trump eliminated the program last month in an executive order.
“I was excited about that but seeing how hostile the workplace has become across the executive agencies, which is where I probably would end up going because of my expertise area, it just isn’t a work environment that would be like mentally and physically safe for me,” Larky-Savin said.
Larky-Savin said before Trump’s second term, she was interested in doing health policy work within the federal government but now sees herself pursuing consulting in the private sector in the future. She said she’s still open to working in the government but would need to see reforms that make the workplace a safer environment for historically marginalized groups, like the LGBTQ+ community.
“It’s disheartening to see someone who is elected into office intentionally make the government less effective to prove that it cannot do what it is capable of doing to benefit his own means and actively harm the communities that I want to serve,” Larky-Savin said. “And if that changes based on his hand being forced or a new person coming into office, I’d love to be a part of that from a personal affected status.”
Gabriela Velandia, a first-year international student from Colombia studying economics and international affairs, said she switched from a bachelor of arts to a bachelor of science degree path to prepare for what she believes will be a more competitive job market under Trump due to the job slashes in the federal public sector.
“I felt like it was more competitive, and the job market is definitely going to become more competitive with the Trump administration and the lack of positions available,” Velandia said.
Andre Bochat, a sophomore majoring in biology, said the National Institute of Health last month canceled an internship he had applied for.
The NIH announced last month that it would limit the amount of indirect funding for research projects, which researchers argued that would cut essential lab space, researchers and supplies needed for scientific research. A federal judge blocked the planned policy change on Feb. 10 after multiple state attorneys general and universities — including GW — sued the agency.
“It was really a bummer because I had already applied. I’d written all my essays, sent all my stuff in and got recommendation letters for it, and it just got axed,” Bochat said. “It has changed my attitude a little bit towards my major, not diminished it at all.”
Bochat said he feels “uneasy” about his research lab job at GW because it is experiencing funding issues associated with the NIH funding cuts but remains optimistic that the judicial system will repeal the funding pauses.
Arjun Rajan, a junior majoring in political science, said he saw himself working in Congress upon arriving in D.C. and was in the final rounds of a congressional internship application process. When Trump announced a federal hiring freeze on Jan. 20, employers said they couldn’t accept him as an applicant anymore, Rajan said.
Officials reported last month that about 20 GW Law students lost job offers and internships due to Trump’s hiring freezes.
Rajan said he is now considering careers outside of politics in places, like lobbying and consulting firms or going to law school. He said he sometimes wishes he didn’t study political science because of the fluctuating job market.
“Every day you could wake up and lose your job,” Rajan said.
But Rajan said he encourages those affected by the hiring freeze to not give up, keep searching for ways to pursue other passions and to do things that make you happy in these times of “uncertainty and despair.”
“I feel like when a door closes, a window opens,” Rajan said.
Public Health Student Association President Allegra Mbwetshangol, a master’s student studying health care administration who is from the Democratic Republic of Congo, said she hasn’t been directly impacted by the downsizing of the federal workforce because most job opportunities are only available to U.S. citizens. She said she’s noticed “a shift” in job postings, especially for international students.
“The hiring process is already very difficult for us, with not a lot of employers willing to hire international students or even sponsor visas, and with the current government policies, that makes it even harder,” Mbwetshangol said.
Senior Manav Raval, the director of the Institute of Politics — a group that works to connect students to research, networking and internship opportunities — said the organization plans on hosting events later this semester with former U.S. Agency for International Development workers to learn more about the institutional shuffling occurring in the federal government.
He said the students will also learn how they can continue to pursue their career interests if working in the federal government isn’t a stable option.
“The biggest takeaway is so students can hear directly from people who are in the government or were in the government, exactly what they should be doing to create the change that they want to see,” he said.
Adelaide Petras, Alexia Massoud, Nidhi Nair and Jennifer Igbonoba contributed reporting.