A report released last week confirmed the fears of Fairfax County’s leaders: that the D.C. region and Northern Virginia in particular are bearing the brunt of the economic fallout of ongoing worker and funding cuts by the Trump administration.
With the federal government potentially shutting down and many federal workers officially losing their jobs after accepting “deferred resignation” offers earlier this year at midnight tomorrow (Wednesday), Fairfax County Board of Supervisors slammed Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin — a Republican — for what he described as a lack of preemptive action.
“This is why I have been sounding the alarm for months — testifying before the General Assembly, directly appealing to the Governor, and passing board matters to set up resources for displaced residents in Fairfax County,” McKay said in a statement provided to FFXnow.
“We saw this crisis coming, yet despite our collective efforts, the Governor has failed to take meaningful action.”
According to the Brookings Institution report, titled “Early warning signs for the DC region’s economy amid federal downsizing,” the D.C. area saw a 0.5% increase in unemployment in the first half of 2025, even as the U.S. as a whole saw a 0.1% dip, and job opportunities, particularly internships for those looking to get a foothold in the workforce, have declined.
While D.C. has the region’s highest unemployment rate at 5.8%, its Northern Virginia suburbs have posted the biggest upticks in joblessness, with Fairfax, Arlington and Alexandria all seeing 0.8% upticks for the year through June.
“This is likely because while higher shares of federal jobs are located in the District, the vast majority of the region’s federal workers live in Virginia and Maryland,” the report said. “While overall unemployment in the DMV region remains below the national average, this could change if rates continue to rise at such a rapid pace.”
Noting that Brookings is projecting no job growth for the D.C. region in 2026, McKay predicted during a Board of Supervisors meeting this morning (Tuesday) that its already sobering employment numbers will “spike dramatically” in the coming months, especially if the federal government shuts down as expected.
He directed County Executive Bryan Hill and his staff to monitor impacts of the potential shutdown and to provide updates to the board in real time.
As of earlier this year, Fairfax County was home to approximately 80,000 federal employees, according to county estimates. According to McKay, many of the jobs that are available do not align with the skills and experience of those ousted from the federal workforce, making the next steps even more difficult for residents finding themselves out of work.
“There is still no statewide recovery plan beyond basic unemployment benefits – no expanded unemployment, no retraining programs, and no direct assistance for affected workers,” he said. “This failure threatens to undo decades of bipartisan work that made Fairfax County the economic engine of Virginia.”
Mason District Supervisor Andres Jimenez, himself a former Congressional staffer, has been working to identify local solutions, emphasizing the need to solidify the dignity of federal staffers.
“As chair of the Workforce Readiness Task Force,” Jimenez said, “I’m bringing together leaders from labor, education, the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, the Department of Economic Initiatives, and regional and local businesses to prepare our workforce for the future while supporting the Board’s efforts to help people transition with the dignity they deserve.”
