
Maryland State GOP House members call Democrats ‘reactionary' in response to DOGE cuts. Dems ask why they're not standing up for federal workers.
BALTIMORE — Against the backdrop of a raging national fight as President Donald Trump overhauls the U.S. government, tensions bubbled up at the Maryland State House Wednesday over fired federal workers.
House Republicans accused Democrats of trying to battle the federal government while debating a bill that would provide the attorney general an additional $1.5 million to sue Trump's administration on behalf of the fired federal workers.
'We cannot overcome the federal government,' said House Minority Leader Jason Buckel, an Allegany County Republican. 'You are not going to stop the federal government through the operations of a state of six million people.'
House Majority Whip Jazz Lewis, a Prince George's County Democrat, said the legislation is not about dictating or responding to what happens in Washington, D.C. Its ultimate purpose, he said, is to stand up to protect federal workers. Lewis criticized Republicans in the chamber for not publicly doing the same.
'I have not heard you all stand up once to talk about how you are going to stand up for the workers in your districts — particularly the federal ones,' he said.
Because of its proximity to Washington, Maryland is uniquely impacted by mass layoffs at federal agencies being implemented by Trump's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. In 2023, nearly 160,000 state residents worked for the federal government.
Buckel said that if lawmakers want to engage in 'lengthy, partisan' debates about national politics, then 'we'll be here every day.'
'Pack a lunch, pack a dinner, pack a midnight snack,' he said. 'I appreciate my friend, but when he says, 'We're here, we're going to protect our people,' why are our people only federal government workers?'
The Protect Our Federal Workers Act, sponsored by Lewis, would create the Federal Government Employee Assistance Loan Fund to provide money to Maryland residents who worked for the federal government but were terminated by the Trump administration during the ongoing waves of mass firings.
The legislation would allow money in Maryland's Catastrophic Event Account and Federal Government Shutdown Employee Assistance Loan Fund to provide six months of no-interest loans to federal employees who live in Maryland and aren't being paid due to a full or partial government shutdown. It would also help those who left their jobs because of the voluntary incentive payment program or were let go due to closures, relocations or mass layoffs at federal government agencies.
The bill was amended in the House Appropriations Committee to allow Attorney General Anthony Brown, a Democrat, to sue the Trump administration on behalf of terminated federal employees. An additional $1.5 million would also be allocated in the state budget to the attorney general's office to carry out lawsuits against the federal government.
Buckel unsuccessfully attempted to strip the $1.5 million from the bill and remove the attorney general's ability to sue the Trump administration on behalf of employees, whom he called 'private individuals who lost their job because of a policy decision or a budgetary decision.'
The attorney general litigates cases on behalf of the state of Maryland.
'The state doesn't have the right to enforce the employment and labor laws of the federal government on behalf of private individuals,' Buckel said. 'I'm going to bet you money … that if we do this and the attorney general brings suit, some court somewhere will say, 'Nope, you can't do that.''
Lewis said that the intent of the amended bill is to fight to protect all constituents, regardless of whether they work in the private or public sector. He said that the amendment would 'neuter' the bill, which empowers the attorney general to take on these cases because a significant portion of Maryland's economy is wrapped up in the federal workforce.
'We are fighting on our front foot,' he said. 'What this amendment does is it says Maryland is going to fight with our arms behind our back.'
Del. Chris Adams, a Republican representing the Lower Eastern Shore, disagreed with Lewis and called the bill 'reactionary.'
Maryland's current budget deficit is $3 billion, which Lewis said could be exacerbated by the layoffs.
Buckel said the state has become 'a ward of the federal government.'
'We are their orphan child,' he said. 'Our budgets are completely reliant — or largely reliant — upon their largesse.'
Roughly one-third of Maryland's budget is federal funding, and a significant portion of that goes to Medicaid.
Buckel also said that the federal government is a big economic driver for jurisdictions across the state because it is a 'major employer' in areas where the private sector is 'hollow.'
'Without those federal jobs, Maryland doesn't look so good,' Buckel said. 'We all want Maryland to be the best. If we had the same level of federal jobs that someone has in, say, Ohio or Oklahoma or Oregon, we would not look very good under almost any set of metrics.'
In defense of the legislation, House Appropriations Committee Chair Ben Barnes, a Democrat representing Anne Arundel and Prince George's counties, said Democrats believe Trump is taking illegal action that directly impacts Marylanders through these mass firings.
'When the federal government takes adverse actions that is illegal, that adversely affects Marylanders, you're damn right we're going to fight,' Barnes said. 'We might not beat the federal government, but we're going to fight them. And our constituents who are hurting, who are losing their jobs — not just the federal workers, but the workers who are going to have the ancillary effects of that as it flows through the budget — should know today the Maryland legislature is going to stand here and fight for you.'
------------
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Business Upturn
21 minutes ago
- Business Upturn
I regret some of my posts about President Trump: Elon Musk expresses regret
By Aditya Bhagchandani Published on June 11, 2025, 12:44 IST In what appears to be a shift in tone, Elon Musk on Tuesday posted that he regrets some of his recent remarks about President Donald Trump, saying, 'They went too far.' I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 11, 2025 This comes just days after Trump addressed their ongoing feud, stating he wished Musk 'very well' and suggesting the tech mogul might be seeking a conversation. In a gesture that caught attention, Musk had responded with a heart emoji on X (formerly Twitter), sparking speculation about a possible reconciliation. Tensions between the two escalated last week after Musk called Trump's proposed 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act' a 'pork-filled abomination' and accused the President of suppressing Jeffrey Epstein-related files. The latter post, which Musk later deleted, reportedly infuriated Trump, who retaliated with harsh criticism and even threatened to sever government contracts with Musk-led firms. The feud intensified when Musk countered by threatening to halt NASA-linked SpaceX missions and claimed Trump would have lost the 2024 election without his support. He also floated the possibility of impeachment. However, Musk's latest message—posted at 12:34 PM on June 11—marks a notable departure from his confrontational stance, possibly signaling the beginning of a de-escalation. While no official conversation has been confirmed, both camps appear to be softening their positions, leaving the door open for future dialogue. Aditya Bhagchandani serves as the Senior Editor and Writer at Business Upturn, where he leads coverage across the Business, Finance, Corporate, and Stock Market segments. With a keen eye for detail and a commitment to journalistic integrity, he not only contributes insightful articles but also oversees editorial direction for the reporting team.

25 minutes ago
Trump's actions in Los Angeles spur debate over deportation funds in his 'big, beautiful' bill
WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' in Congress includes more than tax breaks and spending cuts — it also seeks to pour billions of dollars into the administration's mass deportation agenda. Republican leaders capitalized Tuesday on the demonstrations in Los Angeles, where people are protesting Trump's immigration raids at Home Depot and other places, to make the case for swift passage of their sprawling 1,000-plus-page bill over staunch Democratic opposition. House Speaker Mike Johnson said the One Big Beautiful Bill Act delivers 'much-needed reinforcements,' including 10,000 new Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, $45 billion to expand migrant detention facilities and billions more to carry out at least 1 million deportations a year. 'All you have to do is look at what's happening in Los Angeles to realize that our law enforcement needs all the support that we can possibly give them,' said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. The focus on some $350 billion in national security funding comes as action on the massive package is lumbering along in Congress at a critical moment. Trump wants the bill on his desk by the Fourth of July. But Senate Republicans trying to heave it to passage without Democrats are also running up against objections from within their GOP ranks over the details. At the same time, Democrats are warning that Trump's executive reach into California — sending in the National Guard over the governor's objections and calling up the Marines — is inflaming tensions in what had been isolated protests in pockets of LA. They warned the president's heavy-handed approach has the potential to spread, if unchecked, to other communities nationwide. 'We are at a dangerous inflection point in our country,' said Rep. Jimmy Gomez, who represents the Los Angeles area. 'Trump created this political distraction to divide us and keep our focus away from his policies that are wreaking havoc on our economy and hurting working families," he said. "It's a deliberate attempt by Trump to incite unrest, test the limits of executive power and distract from the lawlessness of his administration.' At its core, the bill extends some $4.5 trillion in existing tax breaks that would otherwise expire at the end of the year without action in Congress, cutting some $1.4 trillion in spending over the decade to help offset costs. The Congressional Budget Office found the bill's changes to Medicaid and other programs would leave an estimated 10.9 million more people without health insurance and at least 3 million each month without food stamps from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. At the same time, CBO said the package will add some $2.4 trillion to deficits over the decade. One emerging area of concern for Republican leaders has been the bill's status before the Senate parliamentarian's office, which assesses whether the package complies with the strict rules used for legislation under the so-called budget reconciliation process. Late Monday, Republicans acknowledged potential 'red flags' coming from the parliamentarian's office that will require changes in the House bill before it can be sent to the Senate. Leaders are using the reconciliation process because it allows for simple majority passage in both chambers, were GOP majorities are razor-thin. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said Republicans are preparing to address the concerns with a vote in the House, possibly as soon as this week, to change the package. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer seized on the House's upcoming do-over vote as a chance for Republicans who are dissatisfied with the package to reassert their leverage and 'force the bill back to the drawing board.' 'They say they don't like parts of the bill — now is their opportunity to change it,' Schumer said. On Tuesday, Vice President JD Vance was dispatched to speak with one GOP holdout, Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, who has pushed for deeper spending reductions in the bill to prevent skyrocketing deficits from adding to the nation's $36 trillion debt load. Other Republican senators have raised concerns about the health care cuts. But Republicans are in agreement on border security, deportation and military funding, over the objections of Democrats who fought vigorously during the committee process to strip those provisions from the bill. The package includes about $150 billion for border security and deportation operations, including funding for hiring 10,000 new ICE officers — with what Johnson said are $10,000 hiring bonuses — as well as 3,000 new Border Patrol agents and other field operations and support staff. There's also funding for a daily detention capacity for 100,000 migrants and for flights for 1 million deportations annually. The package includes $46 billion for construction of Trump's long promised wall between the U.S.-Mexico border. Additionally, the bill includes $150 billion for the Pentagon, with $5 billion for the military deployment in support of border security, along with nearly $25 billion for Trump's 'Golden Dome' defense system over the U.S. Separately, the bill adds another $21 billion for the Coast Guard. Democrats have argued against the deportations, and warned that Trump appears to be stirring up protests so he can clamp down on migrant communities. Rep. Nanette Barragan — whose district represents the suburban city of Paramount, where the weekend Home Depot raid touched off protests — implored Americans: 'Listen to the words of this administration: They're using words like insurrection. They're using words like invasion.' She warned the administration is laying the groundwork for even steeper actions. 'That's a concern,' she said. 'That is dangerous. It's wrong.'


Newsweek
29 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Gavin Newsom Compares Donald Trump to Emperor Palpatine
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. California Gov. Gavin Newsom's office shared a meme portraying President Donald Trump as Star Wars villain Emperor Palpatine. In the video, Palpatine's voice reads out a Truth Social post by Trump talking about the riots in Los Angeles. The Democratic governor and Republican president have clashed over the latter's decision to send in National Guard troops and Marines to quell the disorder that erupted from protests against federal immigration raids in Los Angeles. A ONCE GREAT AMERICAN CITY HAS BEEN OCCUPIED! — Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) June 10, 2025 This is a developing article. Updates to follow.