100 Days of Trump: Forced Out Federal Workers

Summary

The Blueprint with Jen Psaki: Episode Summary Episode: 100 Days of Trump: Forced Out Federal Workers Release Date: May 2, 2025

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Introduction

In this pivotal episode of "The Blueprint with Jen Psaki," MSNBC host Jen Psaki delves into the profound impact of the Trump administration's restructuring efforts on federal workers across the United States. Titled "100 Days of Trump: Forced Out Federal Workers," the episode highlights the personal and professional upheavals experienced by thousands of dedicated public servants following significant budget cuts and agency eliminations. Through heartfelt stories and incisive political analysis, the episode underscores the ramifications of these government changes on essential services and the Democratic Party's strategy moving forward.

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Forced Out Federal Workers: An Overview

The episode opens with Stephanie Ruhl, co-hosting with Jacob Soboroff, introducing the gravity of the situation: approximately 12% of the 2.4 million civilian federal workers have been displaced within the first 100 days of the Trump administration, as reported by The New York Times. These layoffs span a variety of agencies, with USAID facing a staggering 99% reduction, alongside significant cuts to Voice of America, AmeriCorps (93% cut), and the Department of Education (46% cut).

Jacob Soboroff [03:03]: "Tens of thousands of federal employees have been forced out of their jobs so far."

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Personal Stories of Federal Workers

The heart of the episode lies in the personal narratives of the affected federal workers, each illustrating the human cost of these administrative decisions.

1. Tamara May – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

   Tamara, with 21 years of service at the CDC, specialized in birth defects and developmental disabilities. She shares her unwavering commitment to public service, even after sustaining a debilitating injury.

   Tamara May [05:28]: "There are 71 million people in this country with a disability. I believe we must continue to serve."

   Her poignant story reflects the dedication of federal workers who prioritize service over personal gain, highlighting the broader implications of their loss.

2. Sam Peterson – National Park Service

   Former park guide Sam Peterson recounts his transition from a history teacher to a park ranger. Sam expresses deep sorrow over losing his dream job, which allowed him to educate the public and preserve America's natural treasures.

   Sam Peterson [07:08]: "I truly believe that America is the best country on Earth. Losing this job was devastating."

   Sam emphasizes the potential decline in park experiences, predicting overcrowded facilities and diminished services due to the staff cuts.

3. Alyssa Elman – Veterans Affairs Office

   Alyssa, a disabled Army veteran and cancer survivor, dedicated her career to serving fellow veterans. Despite being offered reinstatement, she chose to speak out against the unjust layoffs.

   Alyssa Elman [09:05]: "We have to provide production numbers that we can't fake. They have no accountability for our jobs—it’s a lie."

   Alyssa's testimony highlights the systemic issues within the administration's approach to workforce management, underscoring the personal toll on those who serve.

4. Brittany Coleman – Office of Civil Rights, Department of Education

   As an attorney ensuring compliance with anti-discrimination laws, Brittany discusses the drastic reduction of regional offices from twelve to five, severely hindering support for disenfranchised communities.

   Brittany Coleman [13:52]: "The workload has now been shifted to the Kansas City office, dealing with 300 to 350 cases per person."

   Brittany's account illustrates the unsustainable pressures placed on remaining staff and the consequent delay in essential services to students and families.

5. Mark Greenblatt – Inspector General, Department of the Interior

   Mark, appointed by Trump in 2019, was a staunch advocate for government efficiency. His abrupt termination, along with 16 other Inspectors General, signals a direct attack on government oversight.

   Mark Greenblatt [34:31]: "The IG community, 14,000 people throughout the federal government, were there to help taxpayers... It just broke my heart."

   Mark expresses profound concern over the loss of accountability within federal agencies, questioning the future of government transparency.

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Senator Cory Booker's Intervention

A significant highlight of the episode is Senator Cory Booker's impassioned speech, where he vehemently criticizes the Trump administration's policies. Booker underscores the administration's failure to deliver on promises of government efficiency, instead exacerbating federal spending and diminishing essential services.

Senator Cory Booker [18:37]: "This president... has actually increased federal spending more than any other president. What has Donald Trump said to them is I'm going to give you more tax cuts. Over 80% of it went to the wealthiest 10% of Americans."

Booker's discourse emphasizes the detrimental effects of these budget cuts on various sectors, including veterans' services, healthcare, and international aid. He advocates for a balanced approach to government reform that maintains essential services while promoting efficiency.

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Impact on Government Services

Through the testimonials of stranded federal workers and Senator Booker's analysis, the episode paints a bleak picture of the future of government services. Key areas affected include:

• Healthcare and Veterans Services: Alyssa Elman's experience illustrates the direct impact on veterans seeking assistance, risking their well-being due to reduced support.

• Education and Civil Rights: Brittany Coleman's narrative points to a significant decline in support for students requiring financial aid and anti-discrimination enforcement.

• Environmental and Occupational Safety: Mark Greenblatt and Scott Laney from NIOSH discuss the broader implications for environmental health and safety oversight, particularly concerning coal miners' health.

The cumulative effect of these cuts portrays a government struggling to maintain its foundational services, risking the welfare of millions.

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Inspectors General Concerns

The targeting of Inspectors General (IGs) by the Trump administration emerges as a critical issue. IGs play a crucial role in maintaining transparency and accountability within federal agencies. Mark Greenblatt, a former IG, laments the undermining of this oversight function.

Mark Greenblatt [33:37]: "If we had true independence to speak the truth without fear of removal or any kind of retribution, then, yeah, I would love to go back."

The mass firing of IGs not only weakens governmental checks and balances but also sends a troubling message about the administration's commitment to integrity and efficiency.

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NIOSH and Coal Miners' Health

A particularly poignant segment focuses on the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and its critical role in protecting coal miners from black lung disease. Scott Laney, an epidemiologist, details the recent shutdowns of NIOSH programs despite the simultaneous push to expand coal mining.

Sam Peterson [44:47]: "My concern is these new people who are going to be going into the mines now have less protection than their grandfathers and their great-grandfathers."

The episode highlights the dangerous disconnect between promoting industrial growth and neglecting the health and safety of workers, with dire consequences for public health.

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Conclusion: The Path Forward

As the episode draws to a close, Jen Psaki underscores the resilience and patriotism of the federal workers featured. The collective narratives serve as a clarion call for the Democratic Party to address the administration's aggressive restructuring and to restore dignity and functionality to federal institutions.

Stephanie Ruhl [49:45]: "You are looking at it right here."

The episode concludes with a hopeful message about healing national divisions and the imperative for informed citizen engagement to advocate for the reinstatement and support of essential government services.

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Notable Quotes

• Jacob Soboroff [01:10]: "Them over the objections of the people who actually know what they do."

• Alyssa Elman [10:00]: "Most of us don't need this job, but there are people who do. This is their primary source of income."

• Senator Cory Booker [18:37]: "This is not just a scam... the biggest losers are the American people."

• Mark Greenblatt [33:37]: "It just broke my heart that we were going to lose."

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Key Takeaways

• Massive Federal Workforce Reductions: Significant layoffs across multiple federal agencies have disrupted essential services nationwide.

• Personal Impact on Public Servants: The stories of Tamara May, Sam Peterson, Alyssa Elman, Brittany Coleman, and others reveal the human cost behind administrative cuts.

• Erosion of Government Oversight: The firing of Inspectors General undermines accountability and transparency within federal operations.

• Threats to Public Health and Safety: Cuts to agencies like NIOSH jeopardize the health and safety of vulnerable populations, including coal miners.

• Political Ramifications: Senator Cory Booker's critique positions the Democratic Party to leverage these issues in their strategic blueprint for recovery and reform.

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This comprehensive episode serves as a critical examination of the Trump administration's initial impact on federal operations, emphasizing the need for strategic political responses and robust support systems for displaced federal workers.

Transcript

[Sponsor Announcer]

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[Stephanie Ruhl]

Power Grab Elon Musk moves to get control over more federal agencies, effectively ransacking.

[Alyssa Elman]

Them over the objections of the people who actually know what they do.

[Jacob Soboroff]

You're causing massive disruptions to a system that supports the common person.

[Tamara May]

Don't forget about my colleagues that are.

[Stephanie Ruhl]

Overseas and they don't even know how they're getting home.

[Tamara May]

The whole point of doing that work.

[Stephanie Ruhl]

Whether it's for malaria or for Covid.

[Jacob Soboroff]

Is that that does not come to the US and hurt us here. It's a major slap in the face to be told that we're not being productive members of this society. Anybody else waiting for reinstatement here that hasn't gotten it yet? 1, 2, 3.

[Stephanie Ruhl]

I've heard nothing at all.

[Jacob Soboroff]

An insult to our democratic system. Give them back their jobs.

[Senator Cory Booker]

This is an MSNBC special 100 Days.

[Mark Greenblatt]

Of Trump A Town hall with Forced Out Federal.

[Stephanie Ruhl]

Good evening, I'm Stephanie Ruhl live from Washington, D.C. for a very special broadcast tonight. We have gathered former federal workers from across the government who have been forced out by Doge. Many of the folks in this audience still don't know what comes next for them. We have all seen the headlines from the last hundred days, but we wanted to take this hour to go deeper and we wanted to give you a better idea of who these workers are, what they do, and what these cuts will mean for all of as citizens and taxpayers. We all want to get rid of waste and fraud in the government. But the question I would ask you to think about tonight as you hear from the people in this room, what happens when you take a chainsaw to our federal government? We should note we requested an interview with a DOGE representative through the White House. They did not make anyone available. But Jacob Soboroff is here. He is with us for the whole hour in D.C. but before you were in D.C. jacob, you were traveling around the country to show us what's really happening.

[Jacob Soboroff]

Well, Steph, I'm so happy to be here with you. And I'm so happy to be here with all of you as well. Tens of thousands of federal employees, about 12% of the 2.4 million civilian federal workers, have been forced out of their jobs so far. That's according to the New York Times. So where do these workers live? They're spread out across the country. They're in big cities, they are in small towns, they're in red states, they are in blue states. Yes, they are a lot here in the D.C. maryland, Virginia area. But data from the Impact Project shows there are huge numbers of federal workers in places like California, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Ohio as well. But which agencies have seen the most cuts? The Times has been tracking reporting from all around the country through confirmations of sources within federal agencies and court filings, public statements as well. Doge has cut 99% of USAID. Some of you are here tonight. Voice of America's workforce, too, along with 93% of of AmeriCorps staff and 46% of the Department of Education's workforce as well. Steph, this is going to be such an incredible evening. But it is my guess, despite the fact that we all have a nice relationship with one another, you guys probably don't want to be here tonight. Is that fair to say, show of hands.

[Stephanie Ruhl]

Who would rather be back in the jobs they were in three months ago?

[Jacob Soboroff]

Yeah, yeah.

[Stephanie Ruhl]

This whole room.

[Jacob Soboroff]

Of course they would. And one thing I want to say is, please give it up for yourselves for being here tonight. We're so grateful to you all for being here. Come on, let's hear it. It's very brave. It's very brave what you all are doing. And I want to start by introducing some of the folks that are in the room tonight. Let's start with Brittany Coleman. Brittany was an attorney for the Office of Civil Rights at the Education Department. Then there's Carrie Murray Murphy, excuse me, who worked at the Commerce Department. Alyssa Elman is a disabled army veteran who has let go from her job at the Buffalo Veterans affairs office, Sam Peterson was a park guide for the National Park Service. And Tamara May spent 21 years in government service working her way up at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And that is where we begin tonight. Tamara, thank you so much for being here.

[Tamara May]

Thank you for having me.

[Jacob Soboroff]

Let's talk a little bit about the job that you have at the CD that you had, I should say, at the cdc, you were working specifically on birth defects and developmental disabilities, how to support families who need extra help due to certain rare genetical, genetic, excuse me, conditions like sickle cell anemia. This was mandated by a bipartisan group in Congress. Did you ever think that it would be abolished entirely?

[Tamara May]

No, I never did. There are 71 million people in this country with a disability. So I truly believe that. I don't want to use the word safe, but I believe that, as you said, because it was a bipartisan group, that everyone understood the importance of the work we did. And we were one of the smallest centers at cdc, and so we focused very heavily on impact because we didn't have a large budget. So we focused on impact and really meeting the needs of the audience that.

[Jacob Soboroff]

We served and an impact you made. I know it's important to you as someone who suffered a debilitating injury from a natural gas explosion, for people out there that are watching us tonight, to see people working for the federal government who have faced and live with disabilities. Is that right?

[Tamara May]

Yes, absolutely. When my accident happened, it was devastating to me. I was in the hospital for a year. I fought really hard to go back to work because it was always important to me to serve the people of this country. And I think that's one of the things that's really upsetting to me is because I truly believe most federal workers, all federal workers that I've ever known are in it because we want to serve this country. So I went back to work, and every day was difficult for me from a health perspective, but I did it because of what we do, you know what?

[Jacob Soboroff]

And it matters to the American people. Thank you, Tamara. Thank you so much. Everybody, give it up for Tamara. Thank you so much. Thank you. Sam, stand up. Sam was a park guide at the National Park Service. Sam, you were at the Roosevelt National Recreation Area in Oregon. You also were down at the Jimmy Carter National Historic Park. You served during his funeral, is that right?

[Sam Peterson]

Yeah, it was an extreme honor for me. Before being in the Park Service, I had been a high school history teacher. And like so many park rangers in the Park Service, just, you know, in love with the idea of America and our history and our treasures. So it was an honor for me.

[Jacob Soboroff]

So from history teacher to park service employee, you don't want to quit on public service, do you?

[Sam Peterson]

No, I truly believe that America is the best country on Earth. And I believe the American people deserve to have a country that, you know, supports them and that is available for them, that they deserve to be educated or to see the amazing vistas at the Grand Canyon or Yellowstone.

[Jacob Soboroff]

Which is why it's such a shame, unfortunately, that you took a job outside the federal government. Even though they offered for you to be reinstated, it was too late. You think you'll go back ever to the federal government?

[Sam Peterson]

Well, being a park ranger was my dream job. I sure would love to someday. I wasn't able to because of our specific circumstances. I had to move six hours away. I was living in government housing when I got fired, so I had to move. Like I said, it's a dream job. So I'd love to go back.

[Jacob Soboroff]

Let's get you back in the federal government. Okay. Sam, thank you so much. Really appreciate you.

[Stephanie Ruhl]

Before you go, what do you think the park experience could be like for Americans this summer? This is what Americans and people from all over the world like to do for their summer vacations.

[Sam Peterson]

Yeah. So I would predict that Americans are going to see an impact at their parks. They might not. And if they don't, it's not going to be sustainable. They might see overflowing rush, overflowing trash cans and overflowing rushes restrooms. Just today, actually, the America the Beautiful act was introduced to Congress. So if they don't want to see impacts in their parks, they should call their congressperson and they should support this legislation because it could go a long way to help their parks.

[Jacob Soboroff]

Sam, thank you so much. Alyssa, let's hear from you. Thank you so much for being here. Alyssa, you were working at the Buffalo Veterans affairs office in the Education Department. And I want everybody to know, not only are you a cancer survivor, potentially because you were exposed to burn pits in Afghanistan, but you went into the VA even though you probably could have made the same amount of money working. Excuse me, accepting disability payments. Is that correct?

[Alyssa Elman]

That is correct.

[Jacob Soboroff]

And so tell me, why did you decide to go into the federal service and go to the va?

[Alyssa Elman]

I decided to do it because I really care about veterans. I love to work. I didn't want to feel like I was stagnant and staying home. I wanted to give back to a system that has given me so much Doctors at the VA treated my cancer, saved my life. Thank you, Dr. Ryan. They were great for me. And I haven't had. You know, I've really benefited from these systems, and I wanted to be able to do something that was impactful, even if it was small, in order to give back to it.

[Jacob Soboroff]

Let me tell you something. You're doing something impactful right now, and you're also doing something very brave because you were told you could have your job back, but if you spoke out to media, you couldn't. And here you are tonight speaking out in front of all of us. I want to say all of you are very brave, but in particular, what you were faced with. Why did you decide to come and speak out tonight instead of take your job back?

[Alyssa Elman]

I feel like this is a critical time in our country. I love America. I love being from this country. I've traveled the world. There is no greater system than what we have here. And I feel like it's just so very important to talk about not just myself, but my co workers who work so hard to provide benefits even when it's inconvenient, even when federal systems break. We work overtime. We exceed our production numbers on a regular basis. And to characterize as terrible people or people who are lining their pocket with federal dollars is a lie.

[Jacob Soboroff]

You were producing this one.

[Stephanie Ruhl]

How does that make you feel when you hear that?

[Alyssa Elman]

It makes me really angry. I feel terrible because, you know, I'm in a really unique position where I don't really need this job. But there are a lot of people who I work with who. This is the money that they pay their mortgage with. This is the money that puts their children into sports. They're afraid to talk. They're afraid to talk because they really want their jobs back. This is their primary source of income. These people work really hard. The idea that we don't have any accountability for our job is a lie. We have to provide production numbers, numbers that we can't fake. They're looking at our computers for every single thing that we do during the day. And it's wrong to talk about employees who are working really hard for you and doing their best to, you know, to provide these services in that way.

[Jacob Soboroff]

In a productive way. The thing I've heard over and over, Steph, time and time again is that on their performance reviews, these performance reviews ultimately were positive for all of these. How many of you got a positive performance review? Just out of curiosity? There you go. There's your answer. Let's get the camera on. Keep your hands up, please. If you had a positive performance review, raise your hand. Yeah. Thank you very much. I appreciate you talking to us. Thank you very much. Kerry, I want to make sure to get you in here. You're an administrative officer for the CHIPS operation inside the Department of Commerce. Tell me what CHIPS is.

[Tamara May]

CHIPS is bringing the manufacturing of semiconductors back into the United States.

[Jacob Soboroff]

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Isn't that what President Trump said he wanted to do?

[Tamara May]

That's why I thought I was safe.

[Alyssa Elman]

You know, that and the fact that, you know, they were saying we're just going to get rid of waste, fraud.

[Tamara May]

And abuse and the mission that we.

[Alyssa Elman]

Were assigned to do is.

[Tamara May]

Was not that.

[Stephanie Ruhl]

And how do you feel right. When you watch the administration every day talk about we're going to bring jobs back, we're going to bring manufacturing back, when that's exactly what you were working on.

[Jacob Soboroff]

That's exactly.

[Alyssa Elman]

And the colleagues I was working with, I mean, shout out to all of them. We were a very small group, but the most brilliant, hard working people.

[Tamara May]

And that kind of piggybacks off of what Alyssa said.

[Alyssa Elman]

You know, it's like we're getting a wrap of. I ran into someone the other day, my neighbor, and she said, why didn't you just want to go back to work?

[Tamara May]

And I said, what do you mean?

[Alyssa Elman]

And she said, well, aren't the people that are getting fired either poor performers or those that chose not to go back when we were mandated to go back?

[Jacob Soboroff]

It's not what it looks like in this room tonight, is it?

[Alyssa Elman]

That's not the truth.

[Jacob Soboroff]

Yeah, Kerry, it's all kind of dizzying too. So many of these people. How many of you have been fired, reinstated and fired again or some version of that? There you go. One more time for everybody. Hands up high, please. Fired, reinstated, and then fired again. It's all very dizzying. How do you understand sort of the disorder of this process?

[Alyssa Elman]

You can't understand because every day you're.

[Tamara May]

Wondering, is today the day I lose my job? Is today the day I get my job back?

[Alyssa Elman]

Do I have insurance each day? That's a whole nother issue that we're running into now. So you can't.

[Jacob Soboroff]

Yeah, there are so many stories, just like insurance is one of them. And I thank you so much for sharing yours. Brittany, let's get you in here. Brittany, you were an attorney in the Office of Civil Rights in the Department of Education. You were doing compliance type work with anti discrimination disability laws, disenfranchised communities to make sure they have access to available sources of financial assistance. Who's going to serve those families now?

[Tamara May]

Well, we've lost about 50% of our staff because of these cuts. So I can say for my office, the Office for Civil Rights, we went from having 12 regional offices down to five.

[Jacob Soboroff]

From 12 to five.

[Tamara May]

That's correct.

[Jacob Soboroff]

And one of the things about your story that I found so compelling is that you said you were once in the shoes of the people you served.

[Tamara May]

Absolutely. I mean, I was once a student in school who wanted to make sure that I had opportunities. I applied for federal student aid. I wanted to make sure that I was treated fairly. And my parents, parents did at times have to go to the school and advocate for me. This is what our office is for, is that when people need to advocate for their children, our students need to advocate for themselves, that they have an avenue and an advocate that will look into, well, a neutral, neutral party, I should say, who is an advocate for enforcing the laws of our nation and making sure that everyone is treated fairly.

[Jacob Soboroff]

And that was you?

[Tamara May]

That's correct.

[Stephanie Ruhl]

So right now, if folks were in your position as a student and they need help and they would want to reach out to your former office, what do they do? Who do they call?

[Tamara May]

Well, my office, the Dallas office, is one of the seven offices that was closed. So unfortunately, the workload has now been shifted to the Kansas City office. But you have to keep in mind that that staff is now dealing with what was already hard enough to deal with. With 50 cases per person. They're now dealing with 300 to 350 cases.

[Jacob Soboroff]

300 to 350 cases.

[Tamara May]

That's correct.

[Jacob Soboroff]

And so that type of workload, Brit, is. It's inconceivable, I would imagine, to people in your line of work.

[Tamara May]

It's unsustainable. But it's not just penalizing us, it's penalizing the students because they're having to wait for us to get to their cases for relief when they need it.

[Jacob Soboroff]

Well, Brittany, thank you very much for being here. And Steph, I have to say, not only an extraordinary group of people and not only very sad stories, but at the same time, such inspiring ones to have everybody be here tonight, be in the same room with us. There's something special going on here, you guys.

[Stephanie Ruhl]

It's a word we often hear often or misheard. Patriotism.

[Jacob Soboroff]

That's right.

[Stephanie Ruhl]

Coming up next, we are going to hear from New Jersey Senator Cory Booker. He has been out front on this issue, but he's got a problem. Democrats are in the minority. So what are they going to do about it?

[Tamara May]

Senator Fassi, are you okay with what's happening?

[Jacob Soboroff]

Senator? You want to talk to the aspired federal workers? Doesn't know Inspired by Judy Blume's groundbreaking.

[Tamara May]

1975 novel Forever, Watch, the reimagined coming of age series about young love by Mara Brock Akil, the iconic creator of Girlfriends, the epic love story follows two black teens, Keisha and Justin, as they explore romance and their identities through the the awkward journey of being each other's firsts.

[Alyssa Elman]

Watch forever.

[Tamara May]

Premiering May 8th only on Netflix.

[Sponsor Announcer]

This episode is sponsored by E Trade from Morgan Stanley Dive into the market with E Trade's easy to use tools and now there's even more to love. Get access to expert insights from Morgan Stanley to help navigate the markets. Open an account and get up to $1,000 or more with a qualifying deposit. Learn [e-mail] terms and other fees apply. Investing involves risks. Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC Member SIPIC E Trade is a business of Mor.

[Senator Cory Booker]

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[Mark Greenblatt]

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[Senator Cory Booker]

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[Mark Greenblatt]

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[Senator Cory Booker]

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[Jacob Soboroff]

How does it make you feel to know that people out there are worried.

[Sam Peterson]

About you guys looking out for you guys?

[Tamara May]

It means a lot and the question is, is it going to be enough? Is there enough public opinion out there to really change the tide? Because that's what it's going to take at this point.

[Stephanie Ruhl]

Our next guest spoke for 25 hours and five minutes, breaking the Senate record for the longest speech to draw attention to the administration's efforts to cut agencies and lay off critical workers. Senator Cory Booker from my home state of New Jersey joins us now. Senator, thank you for your time.

[Senator Cory Booker]

Thank you for this. This is extraordinary. One of the worst poverties in our country is often a poverty of empathy. More Americans need to hear these stories and understand how they are being heard hurt by the cuts of these folks who are providing such essential services in our nation.

[Stephanie Ruhl]

Well, it is a complicated story because on one hand our federal workers, they are the fabric that sews the country together and makes the government work. But on the other hand, there's A big appetite for the idea of doge. So when you look at the concept of doge, do you start to say maybe our government is too big?

[Senator Cory Booker]

Well, first of all, let's understand the facts. This is arithmetic. This is not politics. They said at first they were going to cut $2 trillion quickly back down to 1 trillion. And now Elon Musk has admitted he's only saved 150 billion. But here's the pain is he cost, through his buyouts, reckless firing, rehiring, lawsuits and all more than $150 billion. This president who said he was going to cut costs, has actually increased federal spending more than any other president. He is the biggest spender in his first hundred days. And the hidden costs, when you cut people from an agency like IRS who are involved in doing the complicated going after the complicated tax returns of the richest of the richest Americans, when you devastate that, the Independent Budget Office for the United States says you're costing us Americans billions and billions of dollars. So there's no cuts here. What's being cut is the services from Americans. What's added to is added to the pockets of people like Elon Musk who make over $30 billion in contracts. He didn't cut any of that, anything that would touch his business enterprises. And then on top of that, they're going to push us further into debt by giving some of the most big historic tax breaks to the wealthiest in this country. This is a scam. There are people in front of us getting hurt. But the biggest losers in this scam that are really being taken advantage of in this grift are the American people.

[Stephanie Ruhl]

The execution of it, you've laid it out is clearly not working. But I go back to there still is this idea from the American people that the government is too big or we have to cut waste and fraud. I mean, there's a CNN poll out today that was astounding. Though people are unhappy with the economy, though they're worried about the cuts, President Trump still polls better than VP Harris. And that might be in the past, but what you are now charged with is presenting what the future solution is. So besides laying out what Trump is doing and how wrong it is, what do Democrats have to present that's so right? Because the status quo is not what people believe.

[Senator Cory Booker]

Well, I'm not speaking for Democrats writ large, but I will tell you this. There's nobody in the United States Senate who actually managed things before they got there. There are governors, there are county executives, and people like me, that was mayor that cut government as much as I did. In the middle of the recession, we shrunk the size of Newark's government 25%. But we didn't do it by executive fiat. You need to do it in a way that respects the legislature. As one of your guests has already said, these programs were created in a bipartisan manner. So Trump is doing this in a way that's violating our constitution. We did it with transparency. We brought in experts and we found ways to create efficiencies and savings for the taxpayers. There's a way to create a more efficient government, but what they're doing right now is creating less efficiency, stealing services from Americans, hurting our future by interrupting our NIH funding, science research, our fights against infectious diseases abroad, by the courageous USAID workers who are on the front lines of things like Ebola or treatment resistant tuberculosis. They're hurting our veterans because the majority of the workers, the biggest group of people they're firing right now are our veterans who have such a commitment to service. So again, we need to start having a better vision of government because I'm upset. I think that you see Ezra Klein, who just wrote this amazing book called Abundance, we have not been able to do big things again. Why can Chinese build thousands of miles of high speed rail? Even the French from Marseille to Paris have a high speed rail. We couldn't do it still. Yet billions of dollars spent between San Francisco and Los Angeles. We have to be able to make our government better, more efficient, more effective. But the way they're going about it to me is not just grift and a scam because they're rising government spending, hurting the services Americans receive, creating more deficit and protecting billionaires, not to mention allowing Elon Musk to have access to our most private information that they're scraping.

[Stephanie Ruhl]

We're going to talk about that.

[Senator Cory Booker]

But the biggest thing I want to tell you is what they are messing up big in a way that should anger every American, is we are losing services. From veterans services to health care services, to school lunch services, we are losing services. And the people who are billionaires and millionaires right now or people like Elon Musk are getting the tax break. And by eviscerating people like inspector generals, we are losing the most important thing in government, which is accountability.

[Stephanie Ruhl]

We're talking to an inspector general next. Quickly, to our audience. When the president won the election, show of hands, did you think you would lose your job? Yes. But a lot of folks didn't. I want to actually play a bit of that. 25 hour and 5 minute speech you gave on the Senate floor. Take a look at this.

[Senator Cory Booker]

This has ruined me. My mortgage payment isn't what makes me cry, though. It's our local staff and partners that come to mind every night as I say my prayers. When I close my eyes, the specter of very real people from my travels and projects appear and I hear the echoes of suffering they shared with me. Suffering they were able, they were sure to note, was alleviated, however temporally, by the United States of America through usaid.

[Stephanie Ruhl]

That was a letter you received from Katherine Baker from Neptune, New Jersey.

[Jacob Soboroff]

Senator Booker. Katherine Baker.

[Senator Cory Booker]

Oh my God.

[Jacob Soboroff]

So did she. Your letter blew me away.

[Alyssa Elman]

Blew me away.

[Senator Cory Booker]

Thank you. Your heart and your compassion.

[Stephanie Ruhl]

Thank you.

[Senator Cory Booker]

While you were going through so much for you to show your care for the work you are all doing, you're an extraordinary American.

[Tamara May]

Thank you so much. That means the world.

[Senator Cory Booker]

Thank you.

[Jacob Soboroff]

Don't go anywhere. Senator Katherine this is the first time that the two of you.

[Senator Cory Booker]

I am blown away.

[Jacob Soboroff]

Have met.

[Tamara May]

So am I.

[Jacob Soboroff]

What is it like for you to meet Senator Booker? Know that he read your letter into the Record there on the floor of the Senate.

[Tamara May]

I was shocked when it was happening. I never thought, and this is just key for everyone to know, do write your representatives because maybe they don't read it themselves right away, but they're amazing. So for me, it means the world to have my voice elevated. But also, you have no idea the amount of people that have contacted me. Some of my colleagues here in the audience, my dear friend Julia Hurley, whose letter you read right before mine. These people reached out to me and they said for the first time I was able to show my friends, my family what this work meant. My 20 year old daughter looked at me and said, dad, I get it. I get why you're going to miss this job. And so thank you for helping us articulate that which us in the USAID community have been screaming about since January 2024.

[Senator Cory Booker]

The thing that broke me as I read your letter, my voice broke because here you were not sure how you get your mortgage payment. You said you applied for something like 60 jobs, only got two interviews. You were clear living. But the thing you said you were most concerned with, and this is the truth about our workers, the people that are here, our federal workers, they're so vilified, demeaned and degraded by this president. But so many of them I meet around the country, their biggest conviction is not themselves, it's the American people they serve. And you clearly are that kind of person.

[Jacob Soboroff]

Their wor suffering Katherine came up in your letter. The suffering of other people. It wasn't about you. And I think that that's such a common thread. What is it about all of you that that's the common thread? You're thinking about the suffering of others.

[Tamara May]

I think it's because we are proud Americans, and we know that even though this is a difficult time, we are blessed to live in the country in which we live. And we know that so many of our colleagues, so many of our local partners are Foreign Service nationals who serve this country diligently, have been treated terribly. We know that they are going to go without access to food, to medicine. They are going to suffer from conflict, violence. And so we feel compelled to speak up for them. And I want to recognize all of those Foreign Service officers and Foreign Service nationals who serve this country for 1%.

[Senator Cory Booker]

Every dollar you send to the federal government, less than 1% would go to the work you're doing. And that void now around the world is being filled by the Chinese. And I just want to say something. This kid, and forgive me for calling you a kid, you're so much younger than me, but what is he doing choosing with his life like the Veter veterans that are here? He choose to do a teacher. You didn't choose to teach kids because of the money. You didn't choose to be a park service ranger as many federal government, not the Fletcher.

[Jacob Soboroff]

Senator, to the event tonight.

[Senator Cory Booker]

Yes, yes, yes. You chose it because you love to serve. So many of the people that I meet that are serving our veterans, that are serving our elderly, that are serving young people, they want to do it for the love of service, not for their money. And for them to be characterized as somehow getting over the American people is so offensive to me. And this, to me, is a great way of showing what the tragedy is.

[Jacob Soboroff]

Ladies and gentlemen, Katherine Baker.

[Tamara May]

Guys, God bless you.

[Jacob Soboroff]

Thank you.

[Senator Cory Booker]

Thank you. Thank you.

[Stephanie Ruhl]

But then, Senator, the amount of disrespect that we have seen and chaos over the last hundred days, the thing the country needs is not an either or. It's to heal.

[Senator Cory Booker]

Yes.

[Stephanie Ruhl]

How are we going to do that?

[Senator Cory Booker]

Yes. I will tell you right now, the way to do it. The way to do it is, first and foremost, we have to get people to see each other, other and understand each other. This demonization, this tribal demonization in our country really is an assault on the character of all of us. There are good people that work in this nation, and I've been hearing from government workers that are Republicans and Democrats.

[Stephanie Ruhl]

There are good people who are mad at the government. There are good people who voted for Donald Trump. There are good people who wonder where their tax dollars go.

[Senator Cory Booker]

And that's why more important than ever, we need to start telling the stories of the work that we're doing and the mission that we have and telling the truth. I just have to tell you, I think politicians writ large have not been laying it plain as much as possible. We do have a debt problem in the United States of America. We are borrowing from our children, racking up staggering debt. We who used to run local governments and state governments didn't have the luxury of printing money and creating such a stratospheric debt debt. And so we have to have a real conversation about doing it. But I'm going to tell you this right now. Most Americans cannot afford $1,000 hit to their budget. They've seen stagnant wages for a generation. But the wealthiest in this country have created staggering wealth at levels never before seen in humanity. And yet what has Donald Trump said to them is I'm going to give you more tax cuts. His last tax cut plan, over 80% of it went to the wealthiest 10% of Americans. And so there is resources, wealthy country, we can do this in a different way. That brings in more revenues, lowers expenditures, creates more efficiency, but keeps doing the sacred mission that all of these folks signed up to do.

[Stephanie Ruhl]

Senator, thank you for joining us tonight. Give him a round of applause when we come back. The Senator mentioned it a moment ago. The mission of Inspectors General, this might be a new term for you, is to actually dig up waste, fraud and abuse exactly what Doge claims it is trying to do. But the President has already fired 17 of them. We're going to talk to one right after this.

[Sponsor Announcer]

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[Senator Cory Booker]

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[Mark Greenblatt]

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[Senator Cory Booker]

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[Mark Greenblatt]

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[Senator Cory Booker]

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[Stephanie Ruhl]

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[Tamara May]

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[Tamara May]

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[Stephanie Ruhl]

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[Jacob Soboroff]

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[Tamara May]

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[Stephanie Ruhl]

Inspectors general. Ever heard of them? Well, they're the actual government watchdogs. Their job is to root out fraud, waste and abuse to make things more efficient. Which is why the president's firing of 17 IGs his first week in office just as Doge was getting underway did not make a lot of sense to a lot of people. One of those forced out is Mark Greenblatt. He was appointed IG for the Interior Department by Donald Trump back in 2019. Mark, I'm so glad you're with us because I'm guessing that the government is big and it moves very slowly. So when Doge was announced, were you excited that sort of your effort was going to get supercharged by a guy with a whole lot of power?

[Mark Greenblatt]

Absolutely. You know, I was the chair of the Council of Inspectors General at the time, and the full name of the council is the Council the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency. So efficiency is literally in our name. And so when they announced, you know, Doge was coming out and Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy was involved, I was excited. As the chair of the council, I was excited. These are going to be natural allies for us.

[Stephanie Ruhl]

Take me to the day when you found out you were losing your job and what was that like for you? And if they called you tomorrow and said we made a mistake, would you go back?

[Mark Greenblatt]

Yeah. Well, so let's take the first thing first. My immediate reaction was I called some of the other IGs and I found out that it wasn't just me. It wasn't just a one or two, three folks. We quickly found out that it was 15, 16, 17. It was a huge number. My heart sank for two reasons. One is the IG community, 14,000 people throughout the federal government who are there to help taxpayers. We are the taxpayers Representatives inside the federal government. And it just broke my heart. It broke my heart that we were going to lose. Some of the heavyweights, some of the stalwarts of our community were on the chopping block, and that just broke my heart. The other thing that broke my heart was my own team. There were 300 people in my office at the Department of the Interior oig. And they're like my family. I love them. And, you know, the thought that I wasn't going to work with them anymore, you know, that, like I said, that just broke my heart.

[Stephanie Ruhl]

What if you could tomorrow? What if. What if the President called you and said we made a mistake, would you return? And what's happened in the last six weeks about all the work lost? Could you just turn the lights back on and unlock the door and I'll show back up?

[Mark Greenblatt]

Yeah, I would love to. I would love to do that. The thing I'm concerned about is getting fired the next day. You know, if you come out with a report, you know, you know, if you come out with a report that the President doesn't like or the Secretary case, the Secretary of the Interior or wherever doesn't like, would they fire you then the next day? And that would be the big thing to me, that did happen in the case of the USAID ig, Paul Martin. And so that would be the concern. That would be the only thing stopping me. If we had true independence to speak the truth without fear of removal or, you know, any kind of retribution, then, yeah, I would love to go back.

[Stephanie Ruhl]

Besides, you and your team talk about how this impacts us. Yeah, because the idea of restructuring. Right. The DOGE team is like a restructuring squad. And we're. We're going to hear, we're going to restructure the government. And at the end of a restructuring, in theory, there is a new structure. What do you think that's going to look like? Because we've heard no messaging around what comes next.

[Mark Greenblatt]

Yeah, right. Well, that's. That's pretty clear. It's not a question of, you know, them being the Department of Government efficiency. It looks like they're the Department of Government Elimination, where they're just hacking away. That's.

[Stephanie Ruhl]

And what will the look like without your efforts?

[Mark Greenblatt]

Yeah, I mean, that's the concern is that will those key services, you know, be missing? You know, there's a lot of retail work that the federal government does, meaning that where we touch individual citizens. For example, we were talking before with the, with our park ranger, the kid that Senator Booker was referring to earlier. You Know, are we going to see, say, in the national parks, which is under the Department of the Interior? Are we going to see long lines? Are we going to see overflowing bathrooms? Are we going to see, you know, parks that can't handle the millions of people that go and visit there every year? That's the type of place where we will see these cuts having a real impact, and it's going to happen all over. I mean, is it Veterans affairs or the Health and Human Services? IG was doing incredible work on nursing homes. Are we going to see less oversight over nursing homes? They were stopping abusive nursing homes at the hhs. Oig. That was a big priority for Kristy Grimm, who was also removed. Well, all of a sudden, are we going to see less oversight over, you know, for our elderly folks? I mean, it's things like that where there are real impacts on people's lives. And if you shrink the size of government in this restructuring way that you're talking about, are we going to lose some of those services that folks depend on?

[Stephanie Ruhl]

Mark Greenblatt, thank you. It is not just the IGs doing the oversight. Jacob, I know you're speaking to a very special guest who does just that.

[Jacob Soboroff]

There's no doubt about it. I do want to say quickly, Steph, about igs. When I covered the family separation crisis in the summer of 2018, it was the inspectors general from the Department of Health and Human Services, the inspector general from the Department of Homeland Security, that exposed some of the things that were going on there. Another person that works in that line of work is Mary Giovannoli. She was, I should say, the ombudsman for the Administration for Children and Families within Health and Human Services, the office that dealt with basically unaccompanied children in the custody of the United States government that crossed the border. You were fired?

[Tamara May]

I was.

[Jacob Soboroff]

Who's watching after those children now?

[Tamara May]

Well, on paper, we still have a couple of staff members, and they're trying to do their best. But half of my office was fired as probationary employees. Several of them are not sure what's coming next because they are remote. But we're not allowed. Even before I was fired, we weren't allowed to visit sites where the children were housed.

[Jacob Soboroff]

And this was created under a court agreement. They fired you despite the fact that court said you need to be there to watch after migrant children in the custody of the United States government?

[Tamara May]

More or less. I mean, we were part of a regulation, and really, we were designed to be the watchdog, to be the oversight function over all the care and custody issues of unaccompanied children in the government's care. And we don't have the tools or the power or even the authority to do what we need to do now. And I still say we because I still feel very passionately about the job and about the kids that we're protecting. But we're seeing problems already.

[Jacob Soboroff]

I know that you feel this is personal to you, as so many of you do. I want to thank you for being here. And I also want to get in your seat, neighbor, if you don't mind swapping out here with Tracy Starr. Tracy, come on out here and let's let Mary take a seat. When it comes to protecting people in crisis situations, that's exactly what you were doing for usaid. You were working in the Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance, a crisis operations specialist. You were looking at crises in Africa, sending emergency relief. Who's sending that relief now and what will we do?

[Tamara May]

Well, right now, who's sending that relief? The very few people who are left within the agency. As your screen said before, 99% of the agency has been terminated. The agency will be moving under the State Department. So the State Department will be taking on part of that work.

[Jacob Soboroff]

One of the things that I think is extraordinary, Steph, is that so many of the folks who have been fired from the federal government are standing up and they're fighting back. We saw some of the people on Capitol Hill. Tracey, it turns out you've decided to run for Congress. Is that right?

[Tamara May]

I have, yes. I have decided that it is time for someone to stand up and also to continue my service. Give back. And now my job is to give back to all of you and to America to make sure that this continues, this good work that we've all done continues.

[Jacob Soboroff]

Well, Tracy, thank you so much. Appreciate it. There's one more person that I want to get in here. I wasn't able to get in before we got to the commercial break. Matt, come on up here. Max Schroeder, some of you may have seen him. He attained a little bit of viral fame when Indiana Senator Banks, you chased him into the elevator, let's put it that way, in the Senate Office Building. And you asked them about losing your job as a budget analyst for the assistant Secretary of Financial Resources at hhs. He said you deserved it. And he called you a clown. Is there anything you want to say back to him on national television? Well, I think the story would be a lot more exc if I had some beef with him. But I think my main Concern is really just that that's his response to Americans who aren't getting services. In my case, I was really making sure grants went out the door to help people with disabilities and older adults. Now we're seeing programs like Meals on Wheels are not going to be funded. And you were working on Meals on Wheels? I was doing the budget for programs like that, yes. And so the fact of the matter is, he treated you. I'm not going to characterize it in the way that you all probably saw on YouTube, but you're talking about substance and specifics. How do we get more substance and specifics about these programs out there? So I think it's just really important that people are able to connect people like me who are budget analysts with the services they're receiving on the ground. So if you have a grandparent or someone with a disability in your family who receives caregiver services, nutrition programs, things like preventing Medicare fraud, think about just, you know, how important it is that the money goes out the door to those programs. Without people like me, the, you know, taxpayer dollars that are funding these programs are not going to get to the places they need to be. Yeah. Thank you so much. When we talk about subject matter experts, Steph, you're looking at a room full of them right now. I'm gonna send it back up to you.

[Stephanie Ruhl]

We sure are. All right, you can get up and stretch your legs. Maybe you can get a drink. But do not go far because you need to hear this next story. Please trust me on this one. We're going to go to West Virginia, where the agency that protects coal miners from black lung, they're facing deep cuts. You're going to hear from them and the man who dedicated his life to this mission. That's next.

[Tamara May]

They just started closing things up, up and.

[Jacob Soboroff]

And not even looking what they're doing.

[Tamara May]

And this needs to be reinstated as quick as possible.

[Jacob Soboroff]

Otherwise the mines might survive, but not the miners.

[Stephanie Ruhl]

Welcome back. We want to take you to West Virginia, where Jacob sat down with coal miners who are now worried about their health after Doge cut the program that protects them from the black lung. Mind you, those cuts came just one week before President Trump signed executive orders to boost coal production. Bring back big coal. The agency is called niosh, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. You might not know it before, but you will. They were federally mandated to provide miners with health screenings at a time when the rates of black lung disease are at all time highs in this country.

[Jacob Soboroff]

I want to introduce you all tonight to Scott Laney an epidemiologist who worked in Morgantown with these miners for over 16 years. His team not only conducted research to find ways to make mining safer, but they also drove a mobile exam unit to the work sites in Appalachia to test the mining minors for disease. Is that the van over there?

[Sam Peterson]

It is. That's our mobile examination unit.

[Jacob Soboroff]

What's it like to see all locked up like that?

[Sam Peterson]

You know, it's been sad. It's been sitting there since inauguration.

[Jacob Soboroff]

Scott's team made health screening as convenient as possible, especially for minors in incredibly rural areas and who have limited access to healthcare facilities.

[Sam Peterson]

We provide X rays, pulmonary function tests, blood pressure screening trainings, occupational histories to try to get a sense of what the health of the mining workforce is.

[Jacob Soboroff]

When you found out that President Trump was signing an executive order to expand coal mining the week after eliminating your program and firing you, what did you think?

[Sam Peterson]

My concern is these new people who are going to be going into the mines now have less protection than their grandfathers and their great grandfathers.

[Jacob Soboroff]

As a result of this, Scott was allowed back into the building to help his colleagues collect some of their family pictures and other personal things. But we had to see it from outside. What are the emotions that you feel standing here? How are you feeling right now?

[Sam Peterson]

Over the course of the last few weeks, I feel like I've gone through all the stages of grief a number of times. It's really difficult to put into the words how this is going to affect the nation's coal miners.

[Jacob Soboroff]

These four current and retired Appalachia based coal miners all have relied on the mobile health surveillance unit and the program at large. As someone who's still working underground, are you worried about what that means for your health? Absolutely. Without having the protection or the sampling and some of the stuff that NIOSH.

[Senator Cory Booker]

Does, we're not going to be nearly.

[Jacob Soboroff]

As protected once we are now.

[Tamara May]

They just started closing things up and.

[Jacob Soboroff]

Not even looking what they're doing. This needs to be reinstated as quick as possible. Otherwise the mines might survive, but not the miners. Is black lung today worse than ever in central Appalachia?

[Sam Peterson]

And among long tenured coal miners, one in five miners who are working today right now have black lawn.

[Jacob Soboroff]

One in five miners, 20% has black lung.

[Sam Peterson]

That's correct. These people will die sooner than they should.

[Jacob Soboroff]

And what you're trying to do is reverse that trend.

[Sam Peterson]

That's what NIOSH is here for. That's why we exist and have for the last more than 50 years.

[Jacob Soboroff]

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Scott Laney to the studio. Here in Washington. Scott, it's been a crazy week. And before we talk, I want to say on Tuesday we heard some NIOSH workers would be temporarily returning to work. HHS released a statement. Let me read a little bit of it to you. It says critical NIOSH programs like the Coal Workers Health Surveillance Program and Health Hazard Evaluation Program will continue to serve the needs of our country's miners at the newly created Administration for a Healthy America. And then yesterday there was yet another update. The director of NIOSH sent out an agency wide memo that said in part, this is only a temporary arrangement bringing you all back to help complete our obligations. A temporary arrangement. So again, fired, rehired. But now I heard that there's another update. You want to let everybody know what the latest is.

[Sam Peterson]

Senator Capito has really been pressing for us to get our jobs back. She sent a press release today saying that HHS said that we would not be taken off of the RIF list.

[Jacob Soboroff]

You will not be taken off of the rif. In other words, you're going to be fired again at the end of your administrative leave, Is that right?

[Sam Peterson]

That's correct. June 2nd is my termination.

[Jacob Soboroff]

And so I think you did an extraordinary job. First of all, I'm so sorry to hear that you did an extraordinary job when I was with you in West Virginia of explaining the importance of this program. Tell us a little bit more about your fellow NIOSH workers. It wasn't just you and the coal miners Health Surveillance Program. What else did you all do at NIOSH in West virginia? There were 800 of you that are facing the same fate.

[Sam Peterson]

We're responsible for the health and safety of the entire nation's workforce. We conduct health hazard evaluations. If there's something that you're concerned about at your workplace, you can request an investig investigation by niosh. We're responsible for certifying all of the respirators in the United States.

[Jacob Soboroff]

The ones we used during COVID right? Correct.

[Sam Peterson]

You want to see NIOSH certified on those N95 masks?

[Jacob Soboroff]

And now we won't any longer.

[Sam Peterson]

I don't. We're currently not doing that.

[Jacob Soboroff]

Well, not particularly reassuring. But I will say this gentleman, Scott Laney, you and your colleagues that I met down in West Virginia are some of the most extraordinary people. And I think, I mean, that goes for everybody here. Your message to your fellow federal workers who are out of work and not knowing what's next.

[Sam Peterson]

I really appreciate everyone coming out tonight and I don't know what to say. I don't know what to say. To anyone. I feel for you and I hope that we can all get back to work for the US People.

[Stephanie Ruhl]

Scott, can I just ask you, what is your message to the president?

[Sam Peterson]

We'd like to see reinstatement of the Coal Workers Health Surveillance Program permanently and fully. And I'm concerned that the health of the nation's coal miners are at grave risk because of the work that we do to protect them. And we're no longer there.

[Jacob Soboroff]

Scott Laney, everybody. Thanks. Scott Laney, thank you guys all so much. With some story after story after story like this, the president says let's expand coal mining while firing the people protecting the coal miners.

[Stephanie Ruhl]

And we need to hear these stories because it's easy to. I don't know where my tax dollars go. I don't know what the government does. Government is too big.

[Jacob Soboroff]

You're looking at it right here.

[Stephanie Ruhl]

You are looking at it right here. Give yourselves one more round of applause, please.

[Jacob Soboroff]

Thank you all so much.

[Stephanie Ruhl]

You know, tonight was about the federal workers in this room. The federal workers are across the country, patriots, patriots who devoted their careers to our country. But we said it before. These last hundred days have been about disrespect and division for millions of people. What we need to collectively do is start to heal. And we don't have to wait for our leaders to do it. We can do it right now. And I hope a night like this can start, can get those wheels in motion. Thank you everyone for joining us here in this studio. Thank you everyone at home for watching. We appreciate you sharing your stories. Jacob and I have the benefit. We are going to stick around and hear a lot more of these stories and share some of them on social. But for now, good night.

[Jacob Soboroff]

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for being here from Washington D.C.

[Sponsor Announcer]

This episode is sponsored by E Trade from Morgan Stanley. Dive into the market with E Trade's easy to use tools. And now there's even more to love. Get access to expert insights from Morgan Stanley to help navigate the markets. Open an account and get up to $1,000 or more with a qualifying deposit. Learn [e-mail] terms and other fees apply. Investing involves risks. Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, LLC Member SIPIC E Trade is a business of Morgan Stanley.