Trump layoffs of fed workers will fundamentally change DC

[Anonymous]

And here is what is happening faster than fed layoffs: fed contractor layoffs: https://montgomeryperspective.com/2025/02/21/federal-contractors-begin-mass-layoffs/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree that these layoffs will fundamentally change DC. I think the layoffs will be rescinded within weeks, as lawsuits wind their way through agencies and courts. But I think the shock of Musk taking a wrecking ball to one of the pillars of civil service, job security, will be felt for years to come. He has no idea what he has done and will never know, because soon enough he'll be off to another project, leaving DC behind. Even if he is fined for some of the illegalities he has committed, he'll just pay it and then never think of federal employees again.

This is going to stain the Republican party, too. Have they figured that out yet? Or are they still too petrified of Trump/Musk to think farther ahead than tomorrow?

+1

From Heather Cox Richardson's blog:

In packed rooms with overflow spaces, constituents have shown up this week both to demand that their representatives take a stand against Musk’s slashing of the federal government and access to personal data, and to protest Trump’s claim to be a king. In an eastern Oregon district that Trump won by 68%, constituents shouted at Representative Cliff Bentz: “tax Elon,” “tax the wealthy,” “tax the rich,” and “tax the billionaires.” In a solid-red Atlanta suburb, the crowd was so angry at Representative Richard McCormick that he has apparently gone to ground, bailing on a CNN interview about the disastrous town hall at the last minute.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The problem is knowledge economies react differently than manufacturing/mining companies.

Silicon Valley lost nearly 1MM jobs between 2001-2010, yet managed to rebound fairly well. Even San Fran is having another moment with all the AI happening.

This is different from areas like Detroit or West Virginia where you had most of the jobs relying on manufacturing or mining where most of the workers were just HS grads.

I think the article is a bit misleading that people will move to Nashville because of a lower COL. The parts of Nashville where anyone wants to live aren't any cheaper than DC (maybe more expensive?).

Perhaps Cincinnati...but only if you are originally from there.

The article also fails to talk about how places like say Kansas City are massively reliant on Federal jobs as well and likely to feel a ton of pain.

You also have Trump claiming to want to turn DC into the best city in the world...hard to reconcile that with mass layoffs.

While metro DC is the epicenter of Dump's cuts, Dump's Depression is going to impact every single corner of the US. Every single congressional district is going to be decimated, and not just federal jobs but all the jobs that connect to them, like hospitals and universities. So let's just be clear here, while DC is going to suffer first and probably suffer hardest, every state and city in the country is going to suffer during Dump's Depression.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If they say thousands in DC, MD, and VA will get laid off or fired then there will be more office space to rent out. Landlord looses out. The small sandwich shops in the buildings and around the corner will loose money. The parking lots will loose money. Metro ridership will be down. Uber and Lyft loose out. The messengers on scooters will loose business. There will be ripple effects. Unemployment claims rise.

All this fake concern over homelessness in DC by Dump, Brooke Pinto and Muriel Bowser is completely ridiculous considering Dump's job cuts and Dump's Recession is going to make homelessness skyrocket in DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think that this time Trump and real President Elon will tank the entire U.S. economy. DMV will definitely be a disaster—expect 20% declines in home prices, shuttered businesses, and huge crime increases—but we will also have a national recession coupled with 30% declines in equities and double-digit unemployment. This will be driven by tariffs and massive demand destruction from fed cuts that impact the entire country. At this point we all need to go through the pain to “take the cure” and get rid of Trumpism for good… but it’s going to be a very bad five years.

Pretty much. But Dump's administration will fudge the unemployment numbers and other key statistics so we'll never really know the official damage. But we'll all see the stock market tank and see all the for sale signs pop up around the metro area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If they say thousands in DC, MD, and VA will get laid off or fired then there will be more office space to rent out. Landlord looses out. The small sandwich shops in the buildings and around the corner will loose money. The parking lots will loose money. Metro ridership will be down. Uber and Lyft loose out. The messengers on scooters will loose business. There will be ripple effects. Unemployment claims rise.

All This already happened back in 2020 and DC business areas never recovered. This also happened to every other city. Reading this comment makes be believe you just crawled out of a bunker in 2025.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At a minimum, DC needs to get serious about combatting crime. It’s just about the only thing it can control. We can’t afford to play around with restorative justice when the economy is also getting gutted.

Crime is down significantly, read up.

Crime is down significantly, yes, from the exorbitant level it was at recently with the most homicides and carjackings in recent history. Yes, indeed, it's come down from "very high" to "high", so amazing. Talk like this is why DC's ability to self-govern is doubted. Have you removed the "all under 26-year-olds shall have the same protections as juveniles"-rule yet?
Is hijacking a car still treated as "not a real crime"? Then, take a seat.

[Anonymous]

Will those pushed out by gentrification move back to the city? Will it become like it was in the 1980s-1990s?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree that these layoffs will fundamentally change DC. I think the layoffs will be rescinded within weeks, as lawsuits wind their way through agencies and courts. But I think the shock of Musk taking a wrecking ball to one of the pillars of civil service, job security, will be felt for years to come. He has no idea what he has done and will never know, because soon enough he'll be off to another project, leaving DC behind. Even if he is fined for some of the illegalities he has committed, he'll just pay it and then never think of federal employees again.

This is going to stain the Republican party, too. Have they figured that out yet? Or are they still too petrified of Trump/Musk to think farther ahead than tomorrow?

Why on earth would we want job security to be a pillar of civil service. “Work for the gov! There’s no performance standard!” has been the MO for eternity and resulted in disgusting bloat. Being better, more efficient, and less costly is actively disincentivized. The fed is best portrayed as the guy from Office Space working out of a basement storage room endlessly looking for his stapler.

+1000

Contractors are actually more expensive than federal employees. The reason why there are job protections is to prevent people from being fired for political reasons. You don't want employees that are hired or fired based on political loyalty. You need people to be selected on talent and qualifications.

[Anonymous]

We had lunch the other day in DC. It looked like a ghost town. Nobody on the sidewalks and hardly any traffic. It was 1:00pm. The restaurant was empty too. We asked the waitress where's your lunch crowd? She said its been slow the past couple weeks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree that these layoffs will fundamentally change DC. I think the layoffs will be rescinded within weeks, as lawsuits wind their way through agencies and courts. But I think the shock of Musk taking a wrecking ball to one of the pillars of civil service, job security, will be felt for years to come. He has no idea what he has done and will never know, because soon enough he'll be off to another project, leaving DC behind. Even if he is fined for some of the illegalities he has committed, he'll just pay it and then never think of federal employees again.

This is going to stain the Republican party, too. Have they figured that out yet? Or are they still too petrified of Trump/Musk to think farther ahead than tomorrow?

Why on earth would we want job security to be a pillar of civil service. “Work for the gov! There’s no performance standard!” has been the MO for eternity and resulted in disgusting bloat. Being better, more efficient, and less costly is actively disincentivized. The fed is best portrayed as the guy from Office Space working out of a basement storage room endlessly looking for his stapler.

+1000

Contractors are actually more expensive than federal employees. The reason why there are job protections is to prevent people from being fired for political reasons. You don't want employees that are hired or fired based on political loyalty. You need people to be selected on talent and qualifications.

The reason we have a professional civil service was to stop the "spoils system”. Use to be a newly elected presidents would replace existing government employees with their political allies. Essentially the US government would start from scratch any time the party would switch. Lots of unqualified hires and corruption.
The Pendleton Civil Service Act of 1883 which established a merit-based system for hiring federal employees based on competitive exams, not political affiliation. Trump is taking us back to the spoil system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We had lunch the other day in DC. It looked like a ghost town. Nobody on the sidewalks and hardly any traffic. It was 1:00pm. The restaurant was empty too. We asked the waitress where's your lunch crowd? She said its been slow the past couple weeks.

Where were you? I mean, lunch on a weekday in downtown DC has been a ghost town for 4 years, so not really understanding what the waitress is saying.

I was in Georgetown on a Friday night a week ago and it was absolutely mobbed. Restaurant had a one hour wait for tables.

Same thing at The Wharf on a Saturday night the previous week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We had lunch the other day in DC. It looked like a ghost town. Nobody on the sidewalks and hardly any traffic. It was 1:00pm. The restaurant was empty too. We asked the waitress where's your lunch crowd? She said its been slow the past couple weeks.

Past couple of weeks or past few years? DC became a ghost town in 2020 and only residential areas recovered. Obviously RTO hasn't been helping or they just laid off so many people there was nobody to return to office

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We had lunch the other day in DC. It looked like a ghost town. Nobody on the sidewalks and hardly any traffic. It was 1:00pm. The restaurant was empty too. We asked the waitress where's your lunch crowd? She said its been slow the past couple weeks.

Where were you? I mean, lunch on a weekday in downtown DC has been a ghost town for 4 years, so not really understanding what the waitress is saying.

I was in Georgetown on a Friday night a week ago and it was absolutely mobbed. Restaurant had a one hour wait for tables.

Same thing at The Wharf on a Saturday night the previous week.

This. DC business areas have very little housing and had been ghosted years ago since 2020. Gtown was incredibly busy this weekend and even with our urban parking skills it took some time to find parking. I noticed some new stores that opened up too, as well as restaurants since last time. Dupont area looked quite empty on Friday night, maybe because of people getting tired of cold weather. I didn't notice much change to Gtown, Foggy Bottom, West End areas compared to before, it's definitely not empty or depressed looking in any way.

[Anonymous]

DC crime is going to skyrocket now.


All these unemployed federal workers will still have to feed their families.

They won’t have any options soon and will all have to turn to street crime just to get by.