People rally at Health and Human Services headquarters to protest the polices of President Donald Trump and Elon Musk Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
Hundreds of thousands of federal workers live or work in Virginia.
President Donald Trump continued his attack on federal workers on Thursday with an executive order to end collective bargaining with unions representing federal workers involved with national security work.
“The President needs a responsive and accountable civil service to protect our national security,” according to a fact sheet released by the White House.
About 144,000 federal workers are employed in Virginia and plenty more live here to commute into Washington, DC. Pro-worker leaders in Virginia immediately denounced the order as yet another attack on workers.
Virginia US representatives Bobby Scott and Gerry Connolly said in a joint statement the order was another example of President Donald Trump’s and Elon Musk’s “war on working people.”
“These two billionaires busted unions in their day jobs and now they’re bringing these same attacks to our government in the biggest presidential attack on unions in history,” Scott and Connolly said in their statement.
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) said in a statement the order “is a disgraceful and retaliatory attack” on federal workers, many of whom are veterans. AFGE has filed lawsuits against the Trump administration to challenge the mass firings of recently-hired federal workers.
Support Our Cause
Thank you for taking the time to read our work. Before you go, we hope you'll consider supporting our values-driven journalism, which has always strived to make clear what's really at stake for Virginians and our future.
Since day one, our goal here at Dogwood has always been to empower people across the commonwealth with fact-based news and information. We believe that when people are armed with knowledge about what's happening in their local, state, and federal governments—including who is working on their behalf and who is actively trying to block efforts aimed at improving the daily lives of Virginia families—they will be inspired to become civically engaged.
OPINION: A Virginia veteran’s perspective on Venezuela
Without Congressional oversight, where do Virginia families turn for accountability? The Trump administration's seizure of Venezuelan President...
Trump tries to block AI regulations as Virginia lawmakers eye reforms
State lawmakers have tried to regulate artificial intelligence in Virginia for years, but doing so has proved tricky given the complex nature of the...
Epstein email says Trump ‘knew about the girls,’ but White House says release is a Democratic smear
WASHINGTON (AP) — The sex-offending financier Jeffrey Epstein wrote in a 2019 email to a journalist that Donald Trump “knew about the girls,"...
Commentary: A blow to Trumpism as Democrats soar in Virginia
Democrats in Virginia and elsewhere won with the message they would fight back against the excesses of the Trump administration and make voters’...
Obama rallies with Spanberger in Norfolk
The campaign for Abigail Spanberger said 7,000 people attended a rally where Democrats criticized Republicans for worsening inequality and eroding...
Virginia Dems rush to support federal workers during government shutdown
Virginia’s economy was already under pressure from the Trump administration’s cuts to federal funding and a sluggish labor market. The uncertainty...
