Washington Council of Governments warns Trump administration cutbacks could hit DMV hard
The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments met on Wednesday to discuss the state of the economy in the DMV.
They say the entire region could see at least a $5 billion revenue hit just from federal job losses alone.
But a panel of experts warned that could only be the tip of the iceberg as the job losses are likely to shake other markets.
WASHINGTON - The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments put out a stark warning on Wednesday, saying the DMV could be facing "gloom and doom" as a result of Trump administration cutbacks.
By the numbers
At a Board of Directors meeting, they said right now, the entire region could see at least a $5 billion revenue hit just from federal job losses alone. But a panel of experts warned that could only be the tip of the iceberg as job losses are likely to shake the housing market, restaurants, businesses and contractors.
"A 10% cut to the federal workforce here in this region that's about 40,000 individuals and you just average the numbers of what the average salary is — that's taking $5 billion out of our regional economy," said Clark Mercer, executive director of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.
Wednesday's meeting looked at the economic impact of the new administration on the DMV. In addition to $5 billion in lost revenue from job cuts, a startling survey of restaurant owners shows that they expect 44% of casual restaurants in the DMV will close their doors in 2025.
"It's an average of 27 lost jobs every time we lose a restaurant," said Shawn Townsend with the Washington Restaurant Association.
What they're saying
The way forward will likely mean more economic cooperation between DMV governments than ever before.
Montgomery County Chief Administrative Officer Rich Maldenado suggested a "non-aggression pact among the region."
"So that we don't just try to pick off each other's businesses," he said.
That kind of agreement wasn't always around. There was a lot of back and forth in the recent battle for Amazon's HQ2, and the fight for the new FBI headquarters showed that the DMV can often be "everyone for themselves" when money's at stake.
But with the Trump administration zeroing in on DMV jobs, there is a call for an economic truce.
"I think there was a time period when we were a little more competitive and I think the situation we have today is going to require us to do things differently," Fairfax County Supervisor Rodney L. Lusk said.
What's next
There were also serious warnings in the meeting that the upcoming World Pride Celebration in D.C. could see much smaller than expected crowds and income, as some foreign nations are indicating they are scaling back participation in response to the Trump administration's efforts to end "diversity, equity & inclusion" policies in the U.S. government.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Jim Cramer Says Reports Of Apple Inc. (AAPL)'s 'Death' Are Overblown
We recently published . Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is one of the stocks Jim Cramer recently discussed. Giuseppe Costantino/ Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)'s shares have reversed tack recently as the firm appears to have smoothed over its friction with the Trump administration. The firm announced a $100 billion additional investment in the US earlier this month, and the shares have gained 13.8% since then. Cramer discussed Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)'s shares adding 30 dollars to their value in ten days: 'Well we've got a lot of exciting things that people are talking about. About the release perhaps of new AI powered products. Uh, smart home push, including robots. Life like version of Siri, well that would certainly be helpful. Smart speaker with display and home security camera. I don't know, home security is something that people want but the main thing here is that if we get robots and they're not from Musk, they're from Apple, I think we'd be very interested in that. While we acknowledge the potential of AAPL as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an extremely cheap AI stock that is also a major beneficiary of Trump tariffs and onshoring, see our free report on the . READ NEXT: 30 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and 11 Hidden AI Stocks to Buy Right Now. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Richard Smith nominated to FedEx board, opening succession path to CEO
Richard Smith, an executive at FedEx and son of the company's late founder, Fred Smith, has been nominated for the company's board of directors, setting the stage for Richard to follow in his father's footsteps as CEO. FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) Chairman Brad Martin announced Richard Smith's nomination in a letter to stockholders. The company will hold its annual shareholder's meeting on Sept. 29. Richard Smith, 47, is currently chief operating officer for FedEx Express International and airline operations. He began his career at FedEx 20 years ago. He has held several high-level executive positions, including president and chief executive officer of Federal Express, regional president The Americas, and head of FedEx Logistics. Satish Jindel, a parcel industry veteran and president of ShipMatrix, said he believes the nomination is the first domino in a succession plan for Richard Smith to become CEO. Under his scenario, when Martin leaves FedEx Express in June 2026, as previously announced, to be chairman of a new publicly traded company created by the planned spin-off of FedEx Freight, current CEO Raj Subramaniam will also become chairman. At the same time, Richard Smith will become president and chief operating officer of FedEx Express for the U.S. and Canada, replacing John Smith (unrelated), who has been named to be CEO of FedEx Freight, the nation's largest less-than-truckload carrier. 'With freight gone and Richard having operating experience, he is being groomed' to eventually lead the company, Jindel told FreightWaves. 'He's got eight or nine months to produce some results in his current position, and once he's head of FedEx Express in two, three, or four years, he can become CEO like his father was.' Subramaniam, 59, has been CEO of FedEx Corp. since June 2022. He took over from Fred Smith, who stayed on as executive chairman until his death in June. Jindel has a track record of making correct predictions about FedEx. After John Smith was installed as head of FedEx Ground in early 2021, Jindel predicted that Richard Smith would be named CEO of FedEx Express. When Richard Smith took the job in March 2022, Jindel posted online that Subramaniam would become CEO and that Fred Smith would become executive chairman. 'There's a 12-year gap' between Richard Smith and Subramaniam. 'So there's plenty of time for Raj to stay as CEO and for Richard to become the chief operating officer and president, produce good results, and then move into that position,' said Jindel. 'This allows for Fred's legacy to continue,' which was the stated intention of many speakers at his ceremony celebrating his life on Aug. 11 at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee, said Jindel. FedEx last year merged FedEx Ground into FedEx Express at the corporate level and is now in the process of integrating the two networks into a single, unified system to achieve greater efficiency. FedEx's revenue in fiscal year 2025, ended June 30, remained flat year over year at $87.9 billion. Operating income dipped $100 million to $6.1 billion. The company has seen volumes soften this year with the proliferation of U.S. tariffs and retaliation by other countries. Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch. Write to Eric Kulisch at ekulisch@ RELATED READING: FedEx fills out Freight executive team ahead of spinoff Fred Smith, FedEx founder and parcel industry pioneer, dies at 80 How Fred Smith built FedEx into the world's largest cargo airline The post Richard Smith nominated to FedEx board, opening succession path to CEO appeared first on FreightWaves. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
US sanctions more ICC judges, prosecutors for probes into alleged American, Israeli war crimes
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is ramping up pressure on the International Criminal Court for pursuing investigations into U.S. and Israeli officials for alleged war crimes. The State Department on Wednesday announced new sanctions on four ICC officials, including two judges and two prosecutors, who it said had been instrumental in efforts to prosecute Americans and Israelis. As a result of the sanctions, any assets the targets hold in U.S. jurisdictions are frozen. The sanctions are just the latest in a series of steps the administration has taken against The Hague-based court, the world's first international war crimes tribunal. The U.S. has already imposed penalties on the ICC's former chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, who stepped aside in May pending an investigation into alleged sexual misconduct, and four other tribunal judges. In a statement, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he had taken action against ICC judges Kimberly Proust of Canada and Nicolas Guillou of France and prosecutors Nazhat Shameem Khan of Fiji and Mame Mandiaye Niang of Senegal. 'These individuals are foreign persons who directly engaged in efforts by the International Criminal Court to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute nationals of the United States or Israel, without the consent of either nation,' Rubio said. He added that the administration would continue 'to take whatever actions we deem necessary to protect our troops, our sovereignty, and our allies from the ICC's illegitimate and baseless actions.' In a separate statement, the State Department said Prost was hit for ruling to authorize an ICC investigation into U.S. personnel in Afghanistan, which was later dropped. Guillou was sanctioned for ruling to authorize the ICC's issuance of arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant related to Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza. Khan and Niang were penalized for continuing Karim Khan's investigation into Israel's actions in Gaza, including upholding the ICC's arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, according to the statement. Wednesday's move carries on a history of Trump administration actions against the ICC, of which the U.S. is not a member, dating back to his first term in office. During Trump's first term, the U.S. hit the ICC with sanctions, but those were rescinded by President Joe Biden's administration in early 2021.
