Claudia Dery’s voice trembled as she spoke about what losing access to Medicaid programs would mean for her and her husband, John, who has multiple sclerosis, a chronic and progressive disease that affects the nervous system. Choice for Independences, a Medicaid program, has helped Claudia afford to care for John since retiring from her role as a teacher.
The House of Representatives passed a Republican-led budget resolution earlier this week that could lead to extensive cuts to Medicaid, a federal-state program that covers more than 180,000 Granite Staters, or roughly 13 percent of the New Hampshire’s population.
“We rely on Medicaid … I fear for what will happen to us with these cuts,” Dery said Friday at a community conversation hosted by Congresswoman Maggie Goodlander. “I decided to come today to share this story and put a face to what’s happening.”
She was one of about 250 people — a room-capacity crowd — who gathered in Heberton Hall at the Keene Public Library Friday to share concerns and hear from the congresswoman about federal government issues affecting them.
Local constituents brought questions about layoffs of federal workers in the National Park Service and other agencies, concerns about losing social security payments, climate change, cuts to humanitarian aid programs, the unprecedented power of unelected officials, and Democratic efforts to push back on the president’s initiatives.
Goodlander said in an interview before the event that she’s been hearing three main concerns from her constituents of late: the high cost of goods and services, uncertainty stemming from federal chaos, and what she described as “a sense that there is real corruption.”
People are still feeling the pinch of high childcare, housing, healthcare and other costs, as well as the escalating egg prices, but they’re also feeling unsettled by mass federal layoffs, threats of trade wars, and the president’s disrespect to allies, Goodlander said.
Granite Staters are concerned about the role Elon Musk is playing in federal decision making, she added. “We have an unelected billionaire working from the White House, trying to control the government and the federal workforce from a social media platform he owns.”
Brown University Professor Robert J. Brulle, who lives part-time in Alstead, spoke about DOGE, the unelected team working with Musk to make cuts to federal programs and agencies, during the event. When he told Goodlander he wants to see Democrats push to “shut down DOGE,” a wave of applause broke out.
Michelle Trombley, a Keene resident who works for UNICEF, raised concerns about cuts to federal workers, including those who provide humanitarian aid.
In the latest wave of federal layoffs pushed by Musk, hundreds of National Weather Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration workers lost their jobs Friday. Goodlander said those workers are “incredibly important in seen and unseen ways for New Hampshire.” Accurate weather forecasts are essential for everything from air traffic control to military briefings, she said.
Asked about the strength of checks and balances in the federal government to respond to President Trump and Musk’s actions, Goodlander told reporters “our system is being put to the test.” But “the system is working,” she said, citing reversals of some of the administration’s actions, like the federal funding freeze that was overturned by a court order.
Official checks and balances aside, Goodlander said she believes in the power of the people’s sentiment. She said that’s why she’s focused on hearing from her constituents – whose stories she said she will take back to Washington to make the case for them with her colleagues.
“There’s no substitute for showing up and hearing from people,” she said.
