Earlier than Ms. Pelton accompanied Alejandro N. Mayorkas, the homeland safety secretary, on a visit to the border with Mexico final week, “I hadn’t left the island since final February,” she mentioned.
“Trump all the time spoke in unfavorable phrases in regards to the authorities and the island and the way corrupt it was,” Ms. Pelton continued. “After we, the Biden administration, are unlocking a few of these funds, it’s an enormous deal within the paper. I see how carefully the native press is reporting on what the administration is doing and the way it impacts the island.”
For now, Ms. Pelton mentioned, the advantages of that perspective and a secure education setup outweighed the lack of networking along with her colleagues. “There are colleagues that must be in due to categorized data,” she mentioned. “I can do that from my bed room.”
Maggie Thomas, 33, was named the chief of employees of the home local weather coverage workplace in January. She nonetheless has not met Ms. McCarthy, her boss, in individual. In July, Ms. Thomas, who had been dwelling in Boston whereas working for Senator Elizabeth Warren’s presidential marketing campaign, packed up a Dodge Caravan along with her boyfriend and drove throughout the nation to maneuver right into a home throughout the road from her dad and mom in Sacramento.
“My dad was very excessive danger for Covid, and being so distant actually compelled me to be a part of the neighborhood and a part of their on a regular basis life,” she mentioned. “I now have a full 180-degree view of my childhood house.”
Ms. Thomas mentioned she had grown snug in her routine at house. “I think about I’ll finally transfer to Washington,” she mentioned, “however we’re studying find out how to run a authorities remotely.”
Dwelling in California additionally meant experiencing the results of local weather change as greater than erratic strains on a chart. “There have been a great three or 4 weeks after the wildfires, when the air high quality was so harmful we couldn’t even go exterior,” Ms. Thomas mentioned. “Whenever you stay by not having the ability to go exterior, it begins to tackle new that means.”