Latest news with #JeffMcKay
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Northern Virginia leaders plead for state's help amid federal job cuts
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — 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.
The Independent
08-04-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Northern Virginia leaders plead for state's help amid federal job cuts
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.
Associated Press
08-04-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Northern Virginia leaders plead for state's help amid federal job cuts
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — 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. ___
WIRED
06-03-2025
- Business
- WIRED
A Sensitive Complex Housing a CIA Facility Was on GSA's List of US Properties for Sale
Photograph:A now-deleted list containing hundreds of United States government properties that the General Services Administration (GSA) plans to sell includes most of a sprawling, highly sensitive federal complex in Springfield, Virginia that also houses a secretive Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) facility, WIRED has learned. The GSA's effort to sell hundreds of US government properties is part of a blunt reshaping of the federal government and its workforce led by Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Staffed in part by young engineers with no prior experience in government, DOGE's efforts have resulted in mass reductions in force, the effective shuttering of entirely independent agencies, and a flurry of lawsuits that seek to mitigate DOGE's razing of the government over the past six weeks. The GSA published the list on Tuesday and pulled it down the next day. Before the full list of 443 properties was removed, more than 120 properties had already been quietly scrubbed, including 14 buildings that did not appear to be listed in the Inventory of Owned and Leased Properties (IOLP), a comprehensive public database of GSA holdings. Most of these properties, aside from one identified only as 'Building A, 6810,' were labeled as either 'Butler' or 'Franconia.' According to public records, all of them are part of a large federal facility known as the Parr-Franconia Warehouse Complex, or the GSA Warehouse, which sits, fenced in by chainlink topped with barbed wire, at 6810 Loisdale Road in Springfield. Most of the buildings in the complex, which dates back to the early 1950s and is dominated by a 1,005,602 square-foot warehouse long used as a government supply depot, are believed to be used by various government agencies for mundane purposes. Right in the middle of the complex, though, next to the warehouse and catty-corner to what's listed as Transportation Security Administration (TSA) headquarters, is a U-shaped building long notorious for its alleged ties to the CIA. 'Obviously, someone did no research about the long and well-documented history of this property,' says Jeff McKay, chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and a longtime advocate of redeveloping the complex, which is near a Metro station and sits in a prosperous area. 'Normally a site like this wouldn't be outed, so to speak, but everyone knows it's here except, apparently, the people who put this list together.' The CIA's use of the building located at 6801 Springfield Center Dr., not all of which can necessarily be observed from street level, was first reported in 2012 by the Washington Business Journal, which in an article around the same time called the CIA's presence in the area 'perhaps the worst-kept secret in Springfield.' The most specific description of its purpose, as the publication noted, can be found in the 2011 spy agency-focused nonfiction book Fallout: The True Story of the CIA's Secret War on Nuclear Trafficking by Catherine Collins and Douglas Frantz, who write, while describing a clandestine operation, that 'There were two pick-and-lock specialists from the agency's secret facility in Springfield, Virginia. In a warehouse-like building there, the CIA trains a cadre of technical officers to bug offices, break into houses, and penetrate computer systems.' (Whether it is currently used for these purposes is unknown.) According to the Journal's reporting, Fairfax County leaders like McKay were frustrated because plans to redevelop the complex ran up against the existence of this facility. 'The entire challenge with redevelopment has been this entity,' McKay tells WIRED. 'This idea that you can sell everything around it and it will be OK runs counter to all the intelligence information we've been given over the past couple of decades. Without divulging the specific details of the activities, the government has been very clear about the sensitivity of the property.' Even a widely supported plan to relocate FBI headquarters to Springfield foundered due in part to the CIA presence. While the FBI would not have raised security concerns, its relocation to the site would have raised logistical ones. Some government agencies, says McKay, said redevelopment was impossible; others said the secret facility would have to be relocated at the expense of the incoming tenant, making it far more expensive than other potential sites. Since Tuesday, GSA sources have been wondering about the possible inclusion of CIA buildings on the list that was posted and then deleted. One source with knowledge of CIA operations, when asked about concerns that the GSA may have listed at least one of the agency's facilities as being for sale, immediately acknowledged 'the Springfield building.' (The building itself, which in past reporting has been described as being held by a private owner, does not appear to have been listed for sale, but due to its sensitivity, selling the buildings around it would raise much the same concerns.) 'There have been rumors swirling that some of the buildings identified house classified CIA space,' says one source at GSA, adding, 'the release of 'non-core properties' was especially surprising, as this nebulous language has not been historically used at [GSA].' As the Washington Business Journal reported in 2012, a real estate appraisal in the late 1990s listed the CIA as one of the complex's tenants, indicating its presence there extends back at least three decades. It is nonetheless possible that the GSA does not know, at least officially, that the CIA has operated within the Springfield warehouse complex, a source at GSA tells WIRED. 'In general, we have agencies that perform many critical law enforcement and national security functions,' they say. 'We are not always aware of what type of operations are being conducted within tenant spaces. We build out operations to their specs and ensure their spaces are up to code. In my own personal experience, there are spaces in our buildings that not everyone knows about. Not necessarily CIA specifically.' 'I think it just shows you how completely unorganized this birdshot of a list is,' says McKay. The CIA declined to comment. The GSA did not respond to WIRED's request for comment. On Wednesday, the GSA issued a press statement acknowledging the feedback the agency had received and asserting that inclusion on the originally published list did not mean a building would be up for sale immediately. 'We anticipate the list will be republished in the near future after we evaluate this initial input,' the statement read, 'and determine how we can make it easier for stakeholders to understand the nuances of the assets listed.' 'I am not saying it's CIA or not,' a former intelligence analyst who worked at Langley for more than a decade tells WIRED. 'But it's reckless that this information is out there at all. It speaks to the fact that these guys have no interest in even understanding government operations.' Matt Giles contributed reporting.
