logo
Northern Virginia leaders plead for state's help amid federal job cuts

Northern Virginia leaders plead for state's help amid federal job cuts

Independent08-04-2025

Northern Virginia leaders urged lawmakers on Tuesday to enact emergency legislation to help stabilize their local economy as the White House cuts federal jobs, which they said has sharply impacted the dense cluster of government employees and contractors based in the suburbs of the nation's capital.
In presentations to a House of Delegates bipartisan committee addressing federal reductions, local authorities described the job reductions as a once-in-a-lifetime overhaul of Fairfax County's economy that would push high-salary workers to leave the state.
Fairfax County Board Chairman Jeff McKay said the shift would impact staffing at other ventures, ranging from child care services to staffing at the local county jail.
'What we're facing here is far worse than COVID,' said McKay, a board member of the state's most populous county. 'COVID was an international pandemic that was affecting everyone. This is something that's acutely affecting Virginia and northern Virginia.'
McKay added: 'We got through COVID because we had a lot of federal support. We will get no federal support with this. In fact, it is federal actions that are causing these actions.'
As of Tuesday, roughly 1,300 federal employees and contractors have filed unemployment insurance claims with the Virginia Employment Commission since the end of January, Secretary of Labor George' Bryan' Slater, who attended the committee meeting, said to a reporter during the meeting.
The meeting comes as all 100 House of Delegates seats will be on the ballot in November, along with the governor. Three of the four lawmakers in Democrats' most competitive districts, according to a recent announcement by the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, serve on the bipartisan committee.
According to a presentation by the Northern Virginia Regional Commission, federal jobs account for roughly 6% of the workforce in northern Virginia and about 5% of jobs for the entire state. By comparison, such government positions only account for 2% of U.S. jobs, according to the regional commission.
Republican Del. Rob Bloxom said the House of Delegates committee would need more clarity on how the workforce reductions would impact state revenues. He added that the committee should engage more with the Virginia Employment Commission, an agency overseen by Slater.
'Like the administration or hate them, we are all in this together,' Bloxom said. 'We really need them in the room to verify what they're seeing.'
Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin has created an online jobs portal for people looking for employment in the state, including a specific page for federal workers.
In late March, Youngkin said: 'Let me be really clear: anybody who writes that there are only fast food jobs is not doing your job. Go to the website, pretend you're someone in Fredericksburg, Virginia, who might lose their job and go find all of the jobs that would match that person's career.'
On Tuesday, Alissa Tafti, a former union leader for her agency's union, said she worried that former federal workers would still have difficulty finding employment in Virginia that would match their salaries, even if there are available positions out there.
'Federal workers who are getting their jobs cut, many of them ... are people with really specific skill sets — highly skilled individuals, but with really particular skill sets,' said Tafti, an economist who worked for the federal government until the end of March. 'It makes it really hard to find another job in another field. The economy is going to have a really hard time absorbing this many people.'
Lawmakers on the bipartisan committee are speaking to authorities in different regions of Virginia to assess how cuts to federal jobs and spending are impacting parts of the state. The committee's next meeting will be in southwestern Virginia, lawmakers said. ___
Olivia Diaz is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

House passes Republican-led bills to repeal D.C. laws on noncitizen voting and policing
House passes Republican-led bills to repeal D.C. laws on noncitizen voting and policing

NBC News

timean hour ago

  • NBC News

House passes Republican-led bills to repeal D.C. laws on noncitizen voting and policing

WASHINGTON — The Republican-controlled House is poised to pass a trio of bills this week to repeal Washington, D.C., laws on immigration, voting and policing, even as it has yet to restore a painful a $1 billion cut to the city's budget. The House passed two of the bills on Tuesday. One would bar noncitizens from voting in local elections in the nation's capital, overturning a D.C. law that was passed in 2022. The other would restore collective bargaining rights and a statute of limitations for D.C. police officers involved in disciplinary cases. Then, on Thursday, the House is expected to pass a third bill, the District of Columbia Federal Immigration Compliance Act, which would require the D.C. government to comply with requests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security to share information and detain undocumented immigrants. Under current D.C. law, local authorities do not work with federal immigration officials unless they have a judicial warrant. All together, the bills represent House Republicans' attempt to assert authority over deep-blue D.C. at a time when the GOP has unified control of the federal government. ' Home rule ' — where the D.C. mayor and city council make their own laws but Congress has the ability to review them — has long been a point of contention. Democrats have pushed in recent years to grant full statehood to D.C., while Republicans have slammed decisions made by local leaders and sought to reverse them. 'D.C.'s City Council made radical decisions in our nation's capital under the Biden-Harris administration, passing local laws that are woefully inconsistent with national standards or constitutional principles,' Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, the chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee who authored the GOP voting bill, said in a statement to NBC News. 'I'm proud that the House is taking action to overturn several of these reckless measures — including my legislation to prohibit noncitizens from voting in local D.C. elections,' he said. At the same time, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Republican leaders have been dragging their feet on a legislative fix for D.C.'s budget. A government funding bill that Congress passed in March to avert a shutdown included a provision requiring the city to revert back to fiscal year 2024 funding levels, leaving it with a $1.1 billion shortfall. The move was quickly met with opposition from local D.C. leaders. The Senate voted by unanimous consent in March to undo it and restore D.C.'s authority to use local tax dollars as its leaders see fit. President Donald Trump endorsed the fix, calling on the House to 'immediately' pass that bill in a social media post on March 28. But months later, Johnson still hasn't held a vote on the bill, prompting criticism from Democrats and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser. 'It's absurd that the House hasn't taken it up. It's absolutely irresponsible, unfair and beneath the credibility of leadership,' said Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., who represents a congressional district just D.C. 'It's not our money, it's D.C.'s money ... and I don't know why the speaker hasn't put the Senate bill on the floor. It'll pass overwhelmingly.' 'This is a particular egregious example of substituting their judgment for those who are locally elected to govern the District of Columbia,' Hoyer said. Last month, Johnson told reporters he was in communication with Bowser and that the House would take up the funding fix 'as quickly as possible.' The speaker said that passing Trump's massive domestic policy package had taken up 'all of our energy' and insisted the delay was not for a 'political purpose.' 'We're working on it right now. It's not like we've closed the door to that,' House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told NBC News on Tuesday. 'But obviously there are other problems we're trying to resolve along the way.' Bowser's office denounced the GOP bills to revoke DC law and — while noting that D.C. has mitigated the most 'catastrophic' impacts of the budget restrictions — urged Congress to pass the funding fix. 'Mayor Bowser continues to oppose all congressional interference in the lives and affairs of Washingtonians. DC will continue to fight to protect our home rule and self-determination,' a Bowser spokesperson said in an email. 'If Congress wants to be helpful, they should pass the District of Columbia Local Funds Act to fix their damage to DC's FY25 budget.' Johnson's office had no comment when asked Tuesday when — or whether — he still plans to hold a vote on the funding fix. Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., the No. 4 in Republican leadership, said, 'I honestly don't know. I haven't heard yes or no,' when asked if the funding fix will come up for a vote. Other congressional Democrats said Republicans should stay out of D.C. issues. 'It's bad enough, usually, when they're playing in D.C. local, home rule issues,' said Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Md., whose district abuts Washington. 'But then to do it at a time when they haven't returned the $1.1 billion is especially egregious.' Immigration has dominated the national political debate this week, with protests erupting in Los Angeles in response to the Trump administration's mass deportation efforts. Republicans said the fight over immigration is a winning issue for the party, and they've continued to lean into it with the legislation on the floor this week. 'If D.C. wants illegals to vote, we've made it clear at the federal level people here illegally should not vote in any elections,' Scalise said. 'We're still the most generous nation in the world in terms of our legal immigration system,' he continued, 'but we have to fix our broken immigration system. And you could just see what's going on in L.A. to prove the point.'

Stephen A Smith finally rules himself out of presidential bid: ‘Have to give up a lot of money to do that'
Stephen A Smith finally rules himself out of presidential bid: ‘Have to give up a lot of money to do that'

The Independent

time2 hours ago

  • The Independent

Stephen A Smith finally rules himself out of presidential bid: ‘Have to give up a lot of money to do that'

Sports broadcaster Stephen A Smith has said that he has "no desire" to run for office after months of flirting with the idea, saying he would "have to give up a lot of money." On Monday night, the ESPN star told Jon Stewart on The Daily Show, he would prefer to be a "hell raiser" and is not looking to run for president in 2028. 'The way I look at it, the money that I have earned working my ass off all of these years now, I would have to curry favor, which means I would be owned. And I ain't having that, so I'm not interested in that at all,' he said. Smith had previously hinted at a possible political run, saying earlier this year that he was "leaving all doors open" for a potential presidential run, The Hill reports. In April, President Donald Trump said during a NewsNation town hall that he'd "love" to see Smith run for office. Smith said he was more interested in being a voice for change than filling a chair in the Oval Office. 'I want to be a major player in terms of a voice and a conduit for change,' he said. 'I want to make sure that people know that the BS has got to stop!' He said he wants to "make sure people are uncomfortable and that they not going to get away with the BS that they been getting away with," 'I think the politicians in this country have served to divide us and paint us against one another for their own selfish deeds, and I think that they have contributed to the demise of this country,' he said. Smith has previously criticized both Trump and the Democratic Party following its electoral defeat in 2024. He previously said he did not like "what I'm seeing" with Trump, but noted that "I'm not surprised." Smith also took shots at the Democrats, saying that they 'talk and they talk and they talk" but then they "position themselves to do absolutely nothing." 'So I don't mind calling them out at all. I don't give a damn who it is: It could be a councilman, it could be a mayor, it could be a governor, it could be a senator or a representative, the president himself,' Smith told Stewart, earning him applause. 'I could care less: Whoever needs to go, needs to go.'

Trump reveals identity of Joe Biden 'deep state' official he believes wielded the autopen to sign orders
Trump reveals identity of Joe Biden 'deep state' official he believes wielded the autopen to sign orders

Daily Mail​

time3 hours ago

  • Daily Mail​

Trump reveals identity of Joe Biden 'deep state' official he believes wielded the autopen to sign orders

Donald Trump has suggested which former 'deep state' official he believes may behind Joe Biden 's infamous autopen. Speaking to the press from the Oval Office on Tuesday, the Republican claimed that a former high-ranking Department of Justice official may have been part of the scandal. An autopen enables its operator to produce signatures, in this case Biden's, potentially giving whoever controlled it power over the president's official business. Trump has slammed the use of the autopen under Biden's administration and how the Democrat allegedly used it to sign pardons and executive orders. But Biden pushed back in a statement this month, denying anyone else made presidential decisions under his tenure and claiming he was in charge. 'I made the decisions about the pardons, executive orders, legislation, and proclamations,' his statement read. 'Any suggestion that I didn't is ridiculous and false.' Trump opened an investigation last week to determine 'who ran the United States while President Biden was in office' with a major focus on 'examining policy documents signed with an autopen, who authorized its use, and the validity of the resulting Presidential policy decisions.' Responding to a question about the LA riots on Tuesday, Trump pivoted and teed off on a rant about the autopen. 'You know, we're moving murderers out of our country that were put here by Biden or the autopen,' he told reporters. 'The autopen really did it,' 'The people, whether it's Lisa Monaco or whoever operated the autopen, these are criminals, people are criminals and allowed these criminals into our country,' Trump continued. Monaco was a longtime Barack Obama and Biden aide who held powerful roles for both administrations. From 2013-2017, Monaco was the Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Advisor to President Obama. She then left government before rejoining again to serve four years as Biden's deputy attorney general. While serving under Biden Monaco oversaw the Justice Department's massive effort to track down and charge those who participated in the January 6th Capitol protest. The investigation - one of the largest in DOJ history - yielded criminal charges against over 1,500 defendants. Reports indicate that Monaco was in frequent contact with the D.C. U.S. Attorney's Office coordinating how the office would use a specific statute to charge defendants with obstruction of an official proceeding. Microsoft recently hired Monaco to serve as their head of global affairs where she will oversee cybersecurity policy and work with foreign governments. Monaco did not immediately respond to the Daily Mail's request for comment. Some online reacted to Trump's suggestion with outrage, saying the former Justice Department worker has ties to the 'deep state.' 'That's quite the deep state resume,' one X user wrote of her long government experience. Under Trump's order to probe the autopen, all of the pardons, clemency grants, executive orders, presidential memoranda, and other presidential policy decisions issued by Biden will be investigated. Actions under review would include Biden's pardons for son Hunter and Dr. Anthony Fauci and orders related to a variety of areas including education, immigration, health care, climate change and more. Trump has argued the use of the autopen invalidates Biden's orders. If his administration can get the courts to agree, it could undo thousands of actions taken by the former president.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store