Maryland Democratic Sen. Angela Alsobrooks is sponsoring the Fiscal Harms of Federal Firings Act in the Senate, which would direct the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct a comprehensive study of the financial effects of the Trump administration’s mass firings on state and local governments.
Mass firings of federal workers have had massive impacts on the economy and day to day lives of D.C., Maryland, and Virginia residents in particular, with more than 317,000 federal workers losing their jobs over the past year.
“This administration has spent its first year driving up costs of goods, increasing health care costs, and spending our taxpayer dollars on a goon squad of masked men who are killing American citizens,” said Alsobrooks on Feb. 12. “But what’s the real threat in their eyes? Our patriotic civil servants. It’s a cruel lie meant to cause division and distract the American people from the awful things Republicans are doing.”
The bill, sponsored by Rep. April McClain Delaney (D-Md.) was also endorsed by the AFL-CIO, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, National Federation of Federal Employees, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), and National Treasury Employees Union.
“These firings were reckless and cruel, upending the lives of dedicated public servants, disrupting critical services the American people rely on, and leaving state and community budgets, such as those in Maryland, in deficit,” said Delaney, who represents District 6 in the House, in a statement. “The fight isn’t over. As Congresswoman for a district home to more than 35,000 government workers and active-duty service members, I will continue to push legislation to understand the full impact of these cuts so we can do right by these workers and the state and local governments that stepped up to help.”
Alsobrooks said she was proud to work with Delaney on the bill.
“Our legislation,” she said, “will force the administration to come clean about the financial impacts of this administration’s mass firings on state and local governments.”