The Impact of Trump's Mass Firings on Virginia: Emergency Panel Meets in Alexandria to Analyze Fallout

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Below: Feb. 8, 2025 in Alexandria, Va.

Virginia House Emergency Committee on Trump’s Federal Cuts Meets in Alexandria

ALEXANDRIA, VA — The second meeting of the Emergency Committee on the Impacts of Federal Workforce and Funding Reductions took place in Alexandria today. The committee was formed by Virginia House Speaker Don Scott on Feb. 4, 2025 to address the unpredictable and unprecedented decisions by the Trump Administration that includes closing federal agencies.

Below: Virginia House of Delegates members on the Emergency Committee on the Impacts of Federal Workforce and Funding Reductions

The 5 hour and 45 minutes of discussion featured several stats on the economic state of play that were a jolt. Even though it was pointed out that Virginia’s unemployment data isn’t current, layoffs and firings on the federal level is bound to result in a negative impact on Virginia’s economy. Jeff McKay, the Chair of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, put it bluntly.

“This is an emergency, it's a very serious issue that requires a very serious response,” McKay began.

As the discussion continued inside a large conference room at the new Virginia Tech Innovation Campus, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a decision that avoided a direct confrontation with President Trump and blocked a ruling that would have meant the rehiring of 16,000 federal workers. To complicate matters further, President Trump’s April 2 decision to launch an international trade fight has sparked financial markets to nosedive around the world. The S&P 500 is down for the year -15.28% — the worst four month performance since 2020.

Above: Jeff McKay, the Chair of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors

“Last week, I was at an event where we were meeting with some of our local chambers, and Dr. Terry Clower… from George Mason University, probably best characterized it when he described this as something that has the biggest economic effect on the Commonwealth of Virginia in anyone's lifetime — and so this is big,” McKay told attendees.

“I think everyone is very concerned that they will not be able to take care of themselves or their family,” said Delegate Bonita Anthony before the presentations began.

She pointed out that for many the issues are, “not just workforce displacement but whether I'm going to get food, whether I'm going to have enough money to pay rent, whether I'm going to be able to travel. When I talked to some high school students at my alma mater yesterday, they have the same concerns. They see the same headlines as they scroll through their socials,” Del. Anthony, who represents the 92nd district which includes Norfolk Chesapeake, added.

Two economists, Terry Rephann and João Ferreira, and demographics researcher Hamilton Lombard, from the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service, presented data to the committee. A few stats:

• There are 321,516 civilians who live in Virginia and work for the federal government - 10.2% of the entire full-time, year-round civilian employed (16+) population as of 2023.
• 77 of the Virginia’s 133 counties and cities now report a higher share of federal workers than the national average, with NOVA and Hampton Roads having the highest concentration of federal workers in Virginia.
• National security represents a particularly large and critical sector within Virginia’s federal workforce, with nearly 40% of federal civilian jobs in Virginia concentrated in industries related to national security.
• Virginia has a higher percentage of civilian federal workers than every other state with the exception of Maryland at 10% - 13% of the population. Over 50% of federal workers live in Northern Virginia and 20% in Hampton Roads.

Data on federal contractors was presented by Ferreira of the Weldon Cooper Center.

“We looked at one year of data of federal contracts across the U.S. and basically Virginia, with $109 billion ranks [in contracts] first in the U.S. — it's the state in the U.S. that has more federal contracts,” Ferreira said.

Several presenters painted a clear picture of a region that could be badly damaged by the exodus of highly educated federal workers who can’t find a job. As Mark Carrier, the Chairman of the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce, pointed out that economic changes often have a cascading impact on adjacent economic sectors. Carrier pointed out that the hospitality sector in particular is economically interconnected.

McKay and several of the elected officials on the committee were more pointed about their concerns for the future.

“Let's not debate the numbers precisely because they're all huge. They're huge. And so when you hear a little discrepancy in the numbers, let's factor in the magnitude of what we're talking about, because the most conservative numbers I have are huge. And I want to make sure that sinks in,” McKay said. He encouraged a proactive plan of action for what may be difficult times ahead. He also shared a memorable employment stat.

“The initial federal civilian unemployment claims in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia for the first 13 weeks of 2025 have surpassed the total annual claims for the year 2023 and 2024 combined. That shows you how rapidly this is moving. Virginia passed total new 2024 new federal unemployment civilian claims by the end of March,” McKay said assertively.

Republicans on the Emergency Committee requested to see more tax and revenue data and hear more from the Virginia Employment Commission. Gov. Youngkin’s Secretary of Labor, Bryan Slater was present and stood up several times to answer impromptu questions from the committee regarding current employment data.

The Mayor of Alexandria Alyia Gaskins and Alexandria City Councilman John Chapman, who presented data at the hearing as Chair of the Northern Virginia Regional Commission, were also present. Chapman highlighted an issue few have focused on: The impact of decreased tourism from Canada on Northern Virginia’s economy. With Trump regularly suggested that the U.S. can somehow annex Canada by “economic force” there has been growing tension that has led to Canadians boycotting American goods.

In the audience during the lengthy hearing were Virginia Senator Adam Ebbin and seven members of the Virginia House of Delegates. They were: Del. Alfonso Lopez, Del. Karen Keys-Gamarra, Del. Kathy Tran, Del. Briana Sewell, Del. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker, Del. Amy Laufer and Del. Atoosa Reaser.

Arlington County Board members Susan Cunningham, Matt de Ferranti
and Maureen Coffey were also in the room. The presence of so many elected officials in the region was a testament to the importance of the issue at hand and the concerns moving forward.

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