Federal workers around the nation’s capital are worried about Trump’s plans to send some of them elsewhere

WASHINGTON (AP) — Job losses have resurfaced for Laura Dodson and other federal workers who have long been the economic backbone of the nation’s capital and its suburbs.

During the administration of former President Donald Trump, her office at the U.S. Department of Agriculture was told it would be relocated. About 75 people were supposed to be transferred to Kansas City, Missouri, Dodson said, but fewer than 40 actually moved. The rushed process, which didn’t take into account the need to find homes, jobs for spouses and schools for children, led to some retiring, she said, and some taking other federal jobs, which ultimately hurt the agency.

Now, as Trump proposes moving up to 100,000 federal jobs from Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia as part of his Agenda 47 plan, fears of a sudden transfer are once again worrying federal workers. The Republican proposals are raising concerns amid a fiercely competitive U.S. Senate race in heavily Democratic Maryland that could decide control of the Senate, and even the Republican nominee has called the plans “crazy.” The proposals could also make it harder for Trump to win Virginia, a state he lost in 2016 and 2020, where a U.S. Senate seat widely considered safe for Democrats is also on the ballot.

“This is causing a lot of anxiety and discomfort for workers because they are dealing with strong, negative, anti-federal attitudes from workers and uncertainty about what could happen to their jobs, homes and livelihoods,” said Dodson, acting vice president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 3403, which represents the USDA’s Economic Research Service.

But the concerns don’t end there. Federal workers are also worried about “Project 2025,” a proposed overhaul of the federal government by longtime Trump allies that would eliminate thousands of jobs and remove civil service protections for some federal workers. The former president has repeatedly distanced himself from the proposal this summer.

But the plan still worries Michael Knowles. He said it calls for making the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services presence in D.C. “a skeleton, and agency employees with operational or security roles should be moved to offices across the United States.”

Knowles, who is president of AFGE Local 1924, said most of his members took an oath to uphold the Constitution and faithfully administer the laws of the United States. He said the members, who all work in the National Capital Region, are dedicated to their mission of government service.

“And they would do what they needed to do to fulfill that mission,” Knowles said. “But I think employees would look skeptically at arbitrary or capricious decisions that didn’t seem to make any business or operational sense.”

The Trump campaign did not respond to requests for comment.

The District of Columbia has the largest number of federal civilian employees, about 160,700 jobs, according to the Congressional Research Service. Maryland and Virginia are in the top four jurisdictions, with about 138,940 in Maryland and 140,400 in Virginia. California has about 142,040.

The proposals to reassign large numbers of federal workers are enraging local leaders in the Maryland and Virginia suburbs of Washington. In Maryland, a heavily blue state where Trump is deeply unpopular, many see it as retaliation from the former president, who won only 32% of the vote there in 2020.

Trump made headlines while in office by denigrating Baltimore, Maryland’s largest city, calling it a “disgusting, rat- and rodent-infested mess.”

Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, who is running as a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Maryland, called Trump’s position on the federal workforce “yet another reason why we absolutely have to sideline Donald Trump.”

“Former President Trump is a ruthless leader, vindictive in every way, and what he’s talking about in terms of harming federal employees is wrong,” Alsobrooks said after returning from the Democratic National Convention last month.

Former Gov. Larry Hogan, her Republican opponent, denounced the relocation proposals as “crazy.” He said they “would be devastating to the region, to the state of Maryland, and bad for the federal government.”

“It’s like Trump trying to turn the federal government into one of his failed casinos where he thinks he can do whatever he wants,” Hogan, who has long been one of Trump’s most outspoken GOP critics, said in an interview. “I think it would undermine our entire democracy.”

Companies that service thousands of federal workers are worried about the fallout from the proposed changes. At Census Auto Repair & Sales, for example, across the street from the U.S. Census Bureau in Suitland, Maryland, service manager Tay Gibson says his shop will feel the effects directly.

“I would hate to see federal workers leave,” Gibson said. “That would also be a departure of business, and that would affect small businesses like mine.”

Libby Garvey, chairwoman of the Arlington County Board in suburban Washington, Virginia, highlighted the potential damage to the local economy.

“If a large portion of (taxpayers) suddenly lose their jobs (or have to move), that would be a terrible and serious burden on our local budget. It would impact our ability to pave our roads, keep our water clean, provide public safety, fire, police, emergency personnel and provide good schools,” Garvey said.

Karen Hult, a political science professor at Virginia Tech, said the move could hurt Trump’s chances in Virginia.

“The federal workers in northern Virginia and the D.C. metro area in general are really a voting bloc,” Hult said. “Of course, the other thing is all the contractors — the thugs in the Beltway. They make a big difference, too.”

But Hult added that the idea of ​​moving federal workers to another city could resonate with Virginians living outside the northern part of the state who may distrust the bureaucracy in the District of Columbia.

Filipe Campante, a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor at Johns Hopkins University who focuses on political economy and urban and regional issues, noted that there’s a reason why capitals exist and federal workers are located nearby. The physical presence, he said, is necessary for face-to-face interactions that are important for accountability.

While Trump and his supporters see the relocation as a positive because it moves the “deep state” away from the seat of government, Campante said it also has its drawbacks.

“I think a positive factor for accountability is that public officials also act as a check on political appointees, and it would be a weakening factor to move those people away from the center of government, so I think from that perspective it would reduce accountability,” Campante said. “Of course, it depends on whether you think that accountability is good or not.”

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Witte reported from Annapolis and Suitland, Maryland.

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