搁滨颁贬惭翱狈顿鈥 has a blunt message for : stand up to on moving federal agencies out of a regional economy that depends on them.
McKay, who leads a county of 1.1 million people, the most populous locality in Virginia, told Youngkin in a letter on Tuesday that the regional and state economy would be devastated if Trump carries through his threat to force federal agencies to move outside of the , which includes Northern Virginia, suburban Maryland and the District of Columbia.
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After outlining the threat and the county鈥檚 efforts to prepare for it, the board chairman challenged the governor to change his public message on Trump鈥檚 sweeping efforts to slash the federal work force and move federal agencies.
鈥淲e urge you to call on ... President Trump to halt these reckless relocations and to stand with Virginia鈥檚 workforce in protecting the economic stability of our region,鈥 McKay said in the two-page letter. 鈥淵ou must tell the president that he is wrong, as past governors have done when Virginia鈥檚 economy is threatened.鈥
鈥淲e also request that you brief our board on your efforts, to date and planned, to support Virginians as they face unprecedented assault,鈥 he said.
Youngkin, who owns a home in the Great Falls area of Fairfax, responded, through his chief of staff, with a two-page letter to McKay on Thursday that touted Youngkin鈥檚 own record of job creation. Youngkin Chief of Staff John Littel suggested that the Fairfax chairman focus on the county鈥檚 own budget challenges instead of national politics.
鈥淲hile other counties in Virginia are growing and attracting new residents and tax revenue, Fairfax County is losing both,鈥 Littel told McKay. 鈥淔ocusing on your $292.7 million budget shortfall without raising taxes on your constituents should take priority over partisan theatrics.鈥
He added: 鈥淵ou should reverse the mandatory union labor agreements that will cost your taxpayers millions. You should improve your commercial real estate crisis and support local business by demanding that employees return to the office.鈥
Littel did not address Trump鈥檚 cuts to the federal workforce or push to move federal agencies out of the region, but suggested that the new administration 鈥渞epresents a real opportunity鈥 to reverse a decision President Joe Biden鈥檚 administration made to award a new FBI headquarters to Maryland instead of the Springfield area of Fairfax.
With Republicans hostile to the FBI under Biden, the governor played a less prominent role in the push to win the project for Virginia than Democrats in the state鈥檚 congressional delegation.
The Republican governor has publicly supported Trump鈥檚 efforts to cut the federal workforce and spending as part of the government efficiency initiative Elon Musk is leading.
Youngkin has expressed sympathy for affected workers and launched an online initiative to match them with private sector jobs in Virginia. On Wednesday, the governor鈥檚 administration sponsored an online job fair with an estimated 300 private employers as part of the 鈥淰irginia Has Jobs鈥 initiative.
But McKay told Youngkin, 鈥測our statements 鈥 telling people they are getting what America voted for, that downsizing isn鈥檛 wrong, calling the process painful but necessary 鈥 are doing harm to our shared constituents.鈥
Last week, federal budget director Russell Vought ordered federal agencies to produce reorganization plans by March 13 that carry out Trump鈥檚 executive order to prepare for 鈥渓arge-scale reductions in force,鈥 or layoffs, by consolidating their operations and eliminating bureaus and offices that are not essential to serving the public.
Vought faced fierce opposition to his Senate confirmation by Virginia鈥檚 Democratic senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, partly because of his past statement that he wants federal workers to be 鈥渢raumatically affected鈥 by the new administration鈥檚 sweeping plans to cut the government. The Project 2025 blueprint that he helped write for the new administration to follow outlined those plans in detail.
In the second phase of the reorganization plan, due April 14, agencies must include 鈥減roposed relocations of agency bureaus and offices from Washington, D.C., and the National Capital Region to less-costly parts of the country.鈥
During the presidential campaign last year, Trump vowed to cut the federal workforce and move up to 100,000 government employees out of the region.
McKay estimated that more than 175,000 federal employees and contractors live in Northern Virginia. 鈥淩elocating federal agencies from our region would impact not only the employees working at those agencies, but the private sector contractors who are the backbone of our economy,鈥 he said.
Virginia received $108 billion in federal contracts last year 鈥 second only to California 鈥 and Fairfax alone received $41 billion in federal funding, McKay said.
鈥淭hese investments fuel our local economies, sustain small businesses, and provide critical employment opportunities across the Commonwealth,鈥 he added. 鈥淚f agencies relocated from the region, many contractors will likely do the same.鈥
McKay also contended that forcing agencies to move 鈥渨ould not only disrupt the lives of thousands of Virginia residents but also weaken the agencies themselves by stripping them of the institutional knowledge and expertise concentrated in this region.鈥
鈥淗istory has shown that previous agency relocations have resulted in workforce attrition and operational challenges that ultimately cost taxpayers more in the long run,鈥 he said.
