I’m writing today’s newsletter in Washington, DC, around the corner from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the office in President Donald Trump’s White House led by Russ Vought, the face of Trump’s mass attack on federal workers.
Earlier this afternoon, Democrats from Virginia and Maryland held a press conference across the street from the OMB.
The goal was to protest Trump’s threat to withhold backpay owed to federal workers once the government reopens and to criticize Republicans refusing to negotiate an end to government shutdown.
US Sen. Mark Warner was on hand, along with Virginia US Reps. Don Beyer, Suhas Subramanyam, and James Walkinshaw.
“The law that makes sure that federal employees get backpay was signed by Donald Trump,” Warner said. “So the idea that he doesn’t understand that everybody has to get paid back shows maybe how short his memory span is or how arbitrarily he wants to pick and choose.”
Once the press conference was over, I bumped into a Department of Education worker who lives across the Potomac River in Virginia.
She worked at the Department of Education for over a decade before getting fired last week. But she was unsure enough about her situation that she didn’t want to get on camera or share her name.
In speaking with this worker, I was left with the impression of just how chaotic and stressful it must be to work under these conditions.
“I’m trying to think about what I want to do,” this worker told me. “I feel a little bit like I’m in a bad relationship and I don’t know how to break up.”
