Maryland Democrats Raise Concern Over Federal Worker Cuts

They say worker terminations will raise unemployment in Maryland and adversely affect the local economy.

Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller (D-Md.) speaks at a town hall event hosted by the Baltimore County Democratic Party in Baltimore, Md., on May 7, 2025. Arjun Singh/The Epoch Times

BALTIMORE—Elected officials from the Maryland Democratic Party have been raising many concerns about how their state would be impacted by the mass terminations of federal workers ordered by the Trump administration.

Since taking office, Trump has ordered efforts to reduce federal spending and the number of personnel employed by the government, with much of the advice regarding staffing changes coming from the U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization, commonly known as the “Department of Government Efficiency,” whose de facto director is Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

The cuts have led to many federal contracts being terminated, leading to layoffs at contracting firms, as well as dismissals and induced early retirements, including at agencies such as the Social Security Administration (SSA).

It is estimated that 130,000 federal workers have already been dismissed, laid off, or induced to retire by the administration, according to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities. Many of these workers were employed in the national capital and reside in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, which includes counties in Maryland and Virginia. In Maryland’s Prince George’s County and Montgomery County, which are adjacent to Washington, the mass terminations are having large effects on the local economy, which relies on federal workers living there for commerce and tax revenue.

“When the federal government makes the type of egregious cuts we’re seeing now, Maryland is disproportionately impacted. We’re not just another state on the map,” remarked Maryland’s lieutenant governor, Aruna Miller, at a town hall event hosted by the Baltimore County Democratic Party on May 7.

“We’re home to over six federal agencies, 300,000 federal workers,” Miller said. “Roughly one in ten Maryland workers is a federal employee ... The [SSA] and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services are both based in Woodlawn, which employ over 14,000 Marylanders—and, of the 82,000 people who work nationwide at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 32,000 ... are based right here in the state of Maryland.”

“When cuts come down from Washington, they don’t land evenly. They land the hardest right here in the state of Maryland,” she added. Miller, like most Democrats, has criticized the termination of workers as being partisan: “It is disruption and cruelty ... tens of thousands of hard-working federal employees [are being] laid off, driven by politics, not performance.”

Miller’s comments were echoed by Rep. John Oszlewski, Jr. (D-Md.), who represents the state’s Second Congressional District, where many federal workers live. The district houses the headquarters of both the SSA and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

“One of my constituents ... was fired from her job because she was on probationary status after getting promoted. She and others have literally been fired for excelling at their jobs,” Oszlewski said. He has introduced a bill in Congress to prevent such actions against probationary workers, though it is unlikely to pass given that Republicans control both houses of the body.

Trump and Republicans in Congress have said the terminations are financially necessary amid record national debt. They also accused some federal agencies and their employees of holding partisan or progressive views that would make it difficult for them to execute the administration’s policy agenda.

Federal district courts have issued injunctions requiring the administration to temporarily reinstate workers while litigation over their termination is pending, though these have been appealed, and the Supreme Court has, in one instance, limited the injunctions.

To assist Maryland’s federal workers who were dismissed—and to keep them in the state—Maryland officials have started initiatives to help them get employment insurance, health care, housing, and legal resources to contest their termination. Like other states, Maryland is also looking to hire the terminated federal workers in the state’s public service.

“[If] you have ever applied for a job at the state ... it could be six months later that somebody contacts you, so much so that you forgot you even [applied] ... [We’re] streamlining the process, and hopefully anyone that’s applying will learn about their status within a couple of weeks,” Miller remarked.

She said dismissed federal workers can seek resources on the state’s website: response.maryland.gov/federalpublicservants

The Prince George’s and Montgomery County Executives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.