An overflow crowd of more than 200 jammed into the public meeting room of the Arlington Central Library Tuesday night to take on the cascading matter of federal job layoffs ordered by the new Trump administration and their impacts on the regional economy. 

Arlington County announced the immediate formation of an $11.5 million increase in its budget stabilization reserve at the event, and it was announced that U.S. Rep. Don Beyer and the jurisdictions of Falls Church, Arlington, Alexandria and Fairfax will hold a pop-up resource fair on Saturday, March 8, from 12 to 5 p.m at Wakefield High School in Arlington, 1325 S. Dinwiddie St., that will provide resources for job search, financial planning and counseling, information on federal workers’ rights, human services and support for such as food assistance, housing, unemployment benefits and mental health support.

The Northern Virginia Regional Commission released a map of where federal civilian employees live in Northern Virginia, and it shows that about 16 percent of City residents are employed by the federal government. 

Falls Church Mayor Letty Hardi issued a statement on the subject at the F.C. City Council meeting Monday. 

She said, “We know many in our community are impacted by the cruel and haphazard cuts in the federal government, there are real impacts to real people. Tonight we celebrated the 100th birthday of our volunteer firefighter department, more than ever we are grateful for our public sector workers. 

“We’ve been working on assessing impacts to the city budget, programs, and projects. We have a new city webpage up with resources for our residents – we will continue to update as we get more information out there. Thanks to our communications team for quickly mobilizing on that. I encourage our residents to sign up directly with Congressman Beyer and Senator Warner and Kaine’s communications so they can stay in touch with their updates and town hall opportunities.

“I am also in regular communication with my regional counterparts and our representatives in Congress on how we can best support and protect our residents.” 

Councilman David Snyder, attending the meeting remotely, said “Thousands of federal employees and critically important domestic and international programs have been summarily terminated or ‘paused’ without any review of their

performance and with a unique malevolence directed at federal employees who have long and effectively served the public. We are committed to supporting our citizens to the fullest extent we can in their time of need.”

“In some ways, [the current situation] has taken the worst elements of a lot of the things that have happened in the past, and sort of put them all together,” County Manager Mark Schwartz said this week.

Tuesday’s town hall in Arlington was packed. Hosted by the Arlington County Democratic Committee, it was led by four panelists who were hit with questions about what recent changes mean and how they should respond.

The current situation in D.C. represents “a much higher risk to Fairfax County than Covid ever did,” said Jeff McKay, chair of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. “Every day, we’re seeing a worse impact than the day before,” McKay said this week. “Thousands of people have lost their jobs. Northern Virginia’s economy is under attack.”

  McKay added, “The county has created a dedicated resource page for federal workers and contractors affected by the drastic measures taken to reduce the size of the federal government. This proactive step was intended to serve as an example for the state to follow.

“I’m pleased that since then Governor Youingkin has established a resource page for federal workers. While this is a positive step, I hope he will also take the opportunity to advocate more proactively with the Trump Administration to protect both the private sector and federal government employees who are essential to Virginia’s economy.

“While it’s important to provide support after a job loss, it’s equally crucial to advocate for preventing those losses in the first place. Rest assured, we will continue to do our part here in Fairfax County and advocate on behalf of those who need it.”