It’s been a rough six months for federal government workers, and few places in the country have been hit as hard by layoffs as Fairfax County.
Based on 2023 Census estimates, approximately 80,000 people — or 13% of the county’s entire workforce — are employed by the federal government, the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority reported this spring. But with drastic cuts initiated by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in recent months, that number has likely plummeted.
Residents affected by the cuts joined Braddock District Supervisor James Walkinshaw, the Democratic nominee for Virginia’s 11th Congressional District, and Dranesville District Supervisor Jimmy Bierman yesterday (Thursday) in McLean to convey their frustrations and share their stories.
Regardless of age or background, all dozen participants conveyed the idea that they were stuck between a rock and a hard place, and that their circumstances were only getting tougher.
One attendee, who previously worked as a researcher studying the future impacts of natural resource scarcity, said he was receiving interest from other countries, but his main priority was working to support his homeland.
“I have been approached by former collaborators in places like Berlin, who have been asking about whether or not I would like to come and work with them for more international interests,” they said. “But my father instilled in me that I serve my country.”
Another attendee echoed that point, explaining that her expertise in a niche topic will force her family elsewhere.
“I’m trying to find full-time jobs, but I’m an ocean climate scientist, and there aren’t a lot of slots for that,” she said. “I’m starting to look abroad. I’m starting to softly prepare the kids like, ‘Hey guys, what do you think about Canada?'”
Others expanded on struggles to find another job, whether through increased demand or a lack of termination paperwork.
“I need answers that I’m certainly not getting from my agency … I have still not received my termination notice,” one woman said. “I was supposedly terminated on May 8. However, I never received any legal documentation, and I have been emailing my agency for the past two and a half months to obtain this paperwork.”
Walkinshaw, who’s running against pro-DOGE Republican nominee Stewart Whitson in the Sept. 9 special election, told attendees that he would immediately take legislative action if he wins election to Congress.
Walkinshaw’s plan includes co-sponsoring a handful of bills, like the “MERIT Act“, which would reinstate recently terminated federal employees, and the “Delete DOGE Act,” which would essentially prohibit federal funding from being used for DOGE activities.
“I don’t expect Speaker [Mike] Johnson is gonna bring any of these pieces of legislation to the floor for a vote, but I do think it is really important that we raise these issues and highlight them and take them to the American people,” Walkinshaw said. “But also that we be prepared, so that in January of 2027, if there’s a change in control in Congress, we can pass this legislation.”
