Scrambling to replace their health insurance and to find new work, some fired federal workers are running into another unexpected unpleasantry: Relatives cheering their job loss.

Summary

Recently terminated federal workers face not only unemployment challenges but also hurtful reactions from family members who support the government cuts.

Luke Tobin, fired from the Forest Service, and Kristin Jenn, whose Park Service job was frozen, describe relatives celebrating their job losses as necessary to “make the government great again.”

Former Park Service employee Riley Rackliffe encountered social media comments calling him a “glorified pool boy” despite his Ph.D.

Some workers report family members unfriending them on social media or dismissing their positions as “waste.”

  • @[email protected]
    15•2 days ago

    I suspect a lot of them wouldn’t even be able to understand what you’re doing or why. And that might make them slightly uncomfortable, so they’d judge you just in order not to have to think about it.

    • @[email protected]English
      6•2 days ago

      I’d like to see him sifting through spiny naiad in 120-degree weather looking for parasitic snails.

      “Those are made-up words!”