People of the Pack: Jacob Holmberg

Jacob Holmberg is a sophomore criminal justice major from Madison, S.D.

Ali Boysen: What are your thoughts on the government shutdown and how long it’s lasted?

Jacob Holmberg: I think it’s dumb. It’s so unnecessary it’s gone on this long, and people aren’t getting paid and government workers aren’t able to pay their bills now. That’s not cool.

AB: Have you read any of the articles about federal workers going to soup kitchens?

JH: Yeah, federal workers going to soup kitchens or people volunteering and bringing them food because they can’t afford to get their own food or anything.

AB: What do you think the Senate and the House of Representatives’ next move should be?

JH: They need to stop the whole, ‘Well we’re Democrats or we’re Republican thing’ because this needs to get fixed and it needs to get fixed now. It’s harming more people than it’s worth and it’s harming both Democrats and Republicans. Each side is a little too headstrong in what they want, and they need to come to a compromise and make it happen so peoples’ lives aren’t being messed up anymore.

AB: How do you think the federal workers that haven’t been getting paid will affect the next election?

JH: I think all of those people are going to take into account what they want from their next president and leaders, but it’s definitely going to be a big change who they decide and how they decide things. Like, ‘is this next presidential candidate going to shut down the government because they didn’t get what they wanted?’

AB: How do you think President Trump has been handling the government shutdown?

JH: (I’m) not a big fan. From what I’ve read, he’s been offered money for his wall that he shut the government down for, and he’s just not taking it because he’s like ‘I want more.” We weren’t supposed to be paying for the wall anyway, so that’s really annoying.