Montgomery County officials are condemning Tuesday’s mass layoffs of workers at local federal health agencies, saying the Trump administration’s actions will have ramifications across the county.
“It’s a sad day for this country and a sad day for Montgomery County … We witnessed hundreds of federal workers instantly lose their jobs and livelihoods. This is a stressful time for them and their families, and we’re going to feel those job losses and the ripple effects throughout every community in the county,” County Executive Marc Elrich (D) said at a virtual media briefing Wednesday. “This is not going to be easy, because we’ve never had to deal with this number of people suddenly being put out of work before.”
The Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk, cut more than 10,000 jobs across the Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday, including 3,500 positions at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), headquartered in White Oak.
The Associated Press reported that several senior-level employees at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda were offered via email a possible transfer to the Indian Health Service in locations including Alaska in lieu of termination. Those employees were given until the end of Wednesday to respond.
While some workers received notice of their employment termination via email early Tuesday morning, others only found out they were without a job after their badges to get into agency buildings stopped working. Those employees were forced to wait in long lines to confirm the status of their employment at agency headquarters, including at the FDA, the Associated Press reported.
“If you don’t think that’s incredible, you’re not awake. This is a real, serious problem for all of us,” Elrich said. “You just can’t fire this many people without impacting the mission of their work, which is to keep us healthy and safe.”
According to Elrich, more than 77,550 federal employees lived in the county at the time of Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration, and more than 48,400 federal jobs were based in the county. These numbers don’t include contract employees. While the county does not have exact numbers for how many county residents have been laid off from federal jobs, Elrich said the county has been able to confirm that more than 1,430 have lost employment since Inauguration Day.
In a press release issued Tuesday afternoon, County Council President Kate Stewart (D-Dist. 4) called the mass layoffs “irresponsible” and “cruel.”
“[This] is a dramatic blow to our nation’s most critical departments and directly impacts hundreds of Montgomery County residents and their families. These are health professionals who have dedicated their lives to public service,” Stewart wrote. “They are the experts who lead public health research on cancer, infant and maternal health, who track and develop lifesaving vaccines and medications, and help prevent the spread of infectious diseases.
The employees are “experts responsible for assuring the safety of our nation’s food supply, medications, and medical devices that residents rely on every day,” she noted.
Raskin, McClain Delaney decry cuts
U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Dist. 8) of Takoma Park addressed the disproportionate impact of the layoffs on his Montgomery County constituency in a press release Tuesday.
“Tens of thousands of my constituents devote their careers to public service,” Raskin wrote. “They go to work every day to improve our country, often passing up more lucrative opportunities in the private sector. They are patriots and public servants, and we should thank them for their service, not vilify them and dismiss them from their jobs before the sun comes up.”
Raskin emphasized that the Trump administration is “not rooting out waste, fraud and abuse.”
“It is dismantling critical government services that Americans across the country rely upon and inflicting confusion and heartbreak on federal employees,” he said. “Thousands of workers have lost their livelihood and our nation’s health agencies are now in chaos.”
U.S. Rep. April McClain Delaney (D-Dist. 6) and her colleagues U.S. Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Joe Neguse (D-Colo.) issued a letter Wednesday afternoon demanding answers from the Trump administration about layoffs at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which has a campus in Gaithersburg. According to the agency’s website, its mission is to “promote U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards, and technology in ways that enhance economic security and improve our quality of life.”
According to a news release from McClain Delaney’s office, the Trump administration has already laid off more than 70 probationary employees at NIST and may target additional workers at the agency. More than 2,800 federal employees and an additional 3,200 visiting associates work at NIST’s Gaithersburg campus, according to the letter.
“Gutting NIST will lead to brain drain in these regions and could result in forfeiting Gaithersburg’s and Boulder’s international leadership in the critical fields driven by NIST’s research,” said the letter also signed by Raskin and 18 other members of Congress. “These public servants are our constituents and neighbors, and they are a critical part of the economic activity in each region.”
The letter noted that “every federal dollar spent on these campuses results in $9 in economic output.” Firing NIST employees will “make the communities surrounding the campuses less prosperous,” it said.
Mongomery College offers resources, services
At Elrich’s Wednesday press briefing, Montgomery College President Jermaine Williams encouraged federal workers who have been affected by the mass layoffs to use the community college’s resources, including “fast-track training for in-demand careers.” He noted the college offers certificate programs in fields ranging from cloud computing to project management.
“There’s just a multitude of opportunities again, for re-skilling, up-skilling or new-skilling,” Williams said. “Montgomery College wants to continue to be the community’s college, and we are very serious … about supporting our displaced federal workers.”
Williams said the college offers some free programs, such as resume review and job interview coaching, and scholarship opportunities and financial aid may be available for other programs. He encouraged people to reach out to the college directly to learn what assistance may be available.
Williams also noted there may be opportunities to convert professional experiences into college credit.
The college hosted a career fair Monday aimed at displaced government scientists and health professionals and is hosting additional job recruitment events throughout the county featuring multiple employers this spring. A full list is available here.
MoCo steps up to help
County officials have undertaken several efforts to address the local impact of federal government cuts. Proposed council legislation introduced last month would provide displaced federal workers with an advantage when applying for county government jobs, and help ease the process of filling those personnel vacancies, according to its sponsors.
Last week, the county announced it is collaborating with private sector partners on a coalition to address federal government cuts and support the local federal workforce. The coalition, Mobilize Montgomery, includes the Montgomery County Economic Development Corp., the Maryland Department of Labor, WorkSource Montgomery, local chambers of commerce and other partners. The goal of the coalition is to serve as a centralized resource hub, with a website hosting job postings, webinars, opportunities for local businesses to get involved, and other resources.
The council also offers the United in Service and Support Online Informational Series, a bi-weekly webinar that aims to address questions from federal workers and their families and provide up-to-date information on local resources. A webinar on the topic of career transition will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday
