WASHINGTON — For nearly a decade, former President Donald Trump rallied voters to call for cutting the size of the federal government and “draining the swamp.”
But now a Republican in a key House race is trying to distance himself from the proposed cuts and Trump’s plan to pull 100,000 federal workers out of the Washington, D.C.-Maryland-Virginia region while firing “gangsters” Bureaucrats”—these policies could cost the U.S. government. The regional economy is in the billions of dollars.
Derek Anderson is the Republican nominee running in a competitive race for Virginia’s 7th Congressional District in the House of Representatives. The area has Nearly 60,000 federal employees Live in it, accounting for about 15% of the total population. More work as a federal contractor.
In a statement to CNBC, Anderson said he would “oppose any legislation, regardless of where it originates, that would weaken national security, raise the cost of living or harm VA-7 jobs.”
“This is my hometown and I will do everything I can to protect it,” he said.
Virginia’s 7th District is one of the most competitive House races in the country, according to the Cook Political Report. But Anderson is not alone. He is the latest example of how Republican congressional candidates are selectively aligning themselves with Trump and projecting independence in tough races.
Although Republicans control the House this year, their slim majority has often led to chaos, inability to advance some major priorities and difficulty in approving must-pass legislation.
For Republicans to set an agenda in 2025, they will need to win many of the districts that supported Biden in 2020 and will likely support Harris this November.
Anderson’s opponent is the Democratic candidate Eugene VindmanThe twin brother of Alex Vindman, who testified against Trump in the 2019 impeachment trial.
On a recent trip to Stafford on Aug. 27, Vindman went door-to-door in 90-degree heat and passed just a few houses before Vindman began chatting with a self-described “government employee.” ” chatted with people who were worried about some of Trump’s policies. proposal.
Anderson has been endorsed by Trump. Vindman Have more financial ammunition Campaign finance: As of June 30, Vindman’s campaign had raised $7.5 million, compared with Anderson’s $1.4 million.
In addition to moving 100,000 employees out of the region as part of the executive order, Trump wants to make it easier to fire career civil servants and win over with politically loyal employees. Often called “Schedule F.” This move alone could affect tens of thousands of federal employees, many of them in Virginia – O7
In Trump’s policy plan, titled Agenda 47Trump also laid out plans to go after “rogue bureaucrats” and “fire all corrupt actors in our national security and intelligence agencies.”
This hit home for Vindman. he is his brother Both were fired They resigned from the White House after Alexander took a high-profile role in Trump’s impeachment proceedings.
“It’s going to be devastating for the region,” Vindman said. “It’s fundamentally unfair, but it’s devastating for the region because you’re talking about thousands of high-paying jobs — it would be terrible.”
If the plan goes ahead, it won’t just be federal employees who will be affected by contractors and other workers in the region Trey KrallProfessor at George Mason University and Director of the Mason Center for Regional Analysis.
He estimated that for every job the federal government creates in a region, it creates 0.6 additional jobs, meaning the loss of 100,000 federal workers equals the loss of 160,000 jobs. Clore estimated that this projected level of unemployment could cost the state $27 to $28 billion annually.
“If all of that left Virginia completely in terms of output, it would probably be about 5 percent of the state’s gross product,” he said. “In modern terms, this would lead to a pretty severe recession.”
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