But being on “Jeopardy!” meant more than winning to Silikovitz, who first auditioned for the classic game show in 2001 — and went on to miss an additional opportunity since then.

“I think that when we’re talking about lifesaving aid programs, saying we’re going to cut 83 percent of USAID’s program, we are going to put lives in jeopardy,” Linden Yee, a former ...