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A majority of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is pressing Gov. Glenn Youngkin to provide more support for federal workers and contractors facing sweeping job cuts, warning that the reductions could damage the county’s economy for decades.

The mostly Democratic board approved Chairman Jeff McKay’s proposal on Feb. 18, 2025, to send Youngkin a letter requesting a centralized resource hub for affected workers. The proposed hub would connect people with employment assistance, legal help and public services, similar to a website established by Maryland Gov. Wes Moore.

McKay said he was “extremely disappointed” by Youngkin’s support for President Donald Trump’s push to reduce a federal government the governor has described as bloated.

“The time for us to stand up and fight is now,” McKay said, arguing that the county cannot remain idle while its core economy is being dismantled in a way that could harm residents for years.

Braddock District Supervisor James Walkinshaw, who chairs the board’s legislative committee, called the resource-center proposal “a very modest request.” He said he would prefer Youngkin use his relationship with Trump to challenge the administration’s approach.

The workforce reductions have reached agencies and employees ranging from FBI agents and health workers to seasonal national park staff and the agency responsible for managing the nation’s nuclear weapons. Fairfax County’s Virginia Task Force 1 search-and-rescue team could also be affected because its international operations rely on funding from the now-frozen U.S. Agency for International Development.

“I hope he will choose to stand up for the people he represents and use the relationship he’s developed with President Trump to tell the president that he’s wrong,” Walkinshaw said.

At a press conference earlier that day, Youngkin acknowledged the anxiety among Virginia’s federal workforce and said the state was preparing to offer as much assistance as possible to people seeking new jobs. He did not provide details about when or where that help would become available.

Youngkin continued to defend the reductions as necessary to confront federal “inefficiency and bloat.” He also said voters supported the effort, although Trump lost Virginia in the 2024 presidential election.

Other Virginia Republicans have made similar arguments, including Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, a gubernatorial candidate, and Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity, who is seeking statewide office.

Herrity wrote in a Feb. 10 newsletter that the federal government’s size and reach should be reduced, while adding that workers and contractors should be treated with respect and thanked for their service.

McKay sharply criticized that position during the board meeting, saying respectful treatment did not excuse the way the reductions were being carried out.

Herrity, the board’s only Republican, called McKay’s response an “incredible mischaracterization.” He said he did not agree with how the cuts were being implemented.

Although Herrity supported creating a central resource hub, he objected to the tone of McKay’s letter. He proposed describing the board as “requesting” that Youngkin establish the hub and removing language about putting politics aside.

No other supervisor seconded Herrity’s amendment, so it failed. Herrity abstained from the final vote.

Fairfax County has approximately 80,000 federal employees and more than 3,800 federal contractors, according to McKay’s board matter. Virginia receives more federal contract funding than any other state, with over $108 billion awarded in fiscal 2024. Of that total, $41.3 billion was invested in Fairfax County.

County supervisors have directed job seekers to the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority’s employment database. At the time of the board discussion, it listed nearly 93,000 openings across Northern Virginia, with health care, e-commerce, aerospace and defense among the leading sectors.

McKay cautioned that some of those positions could vanish if federal agencies cancel contracts.

The full extent of the administration’s downsizing—and its effect on Fairfax County—remains uncertain. The disruption could also intensify an already difficult county budget season.

County Executive Bryan Hill unveiled a proposed fiscal 2026 budget on Feb. 18 that includes $59.8 million in staffing and program reductions. The cuts are intended to help close a deficit driven partly by falling commercial real estate tax revenue.

That spending plan was prepared before Trump took office on Jan. 20. Hill said county employees will continue tracking federal actions to determine whether Fairfax must revise its revenue or spending projections.