President Donald Trump is actually doing something almost all presidents have failed to do, reduce the size and scale of the federal government.
The Washington Post is very concerned about the economic datapoints coming from the DC area. Including: “the Trump administration’s overhaul of the federal workforce, including the elimination of thousands of federal jobs, is being acutely felt in a national capital region.”
WaPo – In May, D.C.’s unemployment rate was 5.9 percent — the highest in more than three years. The number of federal workers turning to unemployment insurance is climbing steadily, with claims rising 64 percent between February and June — from 1,064 to 1,747. That surge is starting to show up in the city’s bottom line: In June alone, D.C. paid out more than $2.5 million in federal civilian jobless benefits, a sharp jump from earlier in the spring.
Maryland saw a similar spike, with payments nearly doubling since April. In Virginia’s Fairfax County, unemployment has reached levels not seen since mid-2021.
LAYOFFS – Layoffs tracked through Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notices are rapidly climbing. The federal WARN Act requires large employers to give advance notice before mass layoffs, offering an early signal of job market stress. So far this year, the D.C. region has recorded more WARN-notice layoffs than in any year outside the pandemic, with nearly 10,000 workers cut as of July — more than the total of the last two years combined. While the data mostly reflects private-sector job losses, it underscores how quickly layoffs are accelerating.
SPENDING – Consumer spending in D.C. is also starting to slip. Washingtonians are cutting back on things like dining out, clothing, and beauty products — and they’re doing so more sharply than people in other big cities. In June, spending at full-service restaurants was down 9 percent compared with the prior year, a steeper drop than in places like Atlanta, Boston and Miami. The same pattern shows up in categories like apparel and entertainment, pointing to a local slowdown even as spending elsewhere holds steadier.
TAX BASE – The D.C. Office of Revenue Analysis is forecasting a rare population dip in 2027 — a 0.2 percent decline — along with shrinking tax collections. In June, the city revised its tax revenue outlook for 2026 from one of growth to decline. The city expects only modest growth in 2027, with property and business taxes still lagging.
HOUSING – Predictably, with uncertainty looming, the real estate picture is starting to shift. “We still have a shortage, meaning there is more demand for housing than supply,” Lee said. “And with that, the prices go up.”
But inventory is climbing, a sign that fewer buyers are competing for homes. At the same time, new apartment construction is tapping the brakes — about 8,000 units went up in the first quarter of 2025, well below the usual 12,000 to 16,000 seen in recent quarters. (more)
God bless President Trump! This needs to continue!
Time for them to all return from whence they came.
But inventory is climbing, a sign that fewer buyers are competing for homes. At the same time, new apartment construction is tapping the brakes — about 8,000 units went up in the first quarter of 2025, well below the usual 12,000 to 16,000 seen in recent quarters.
Probably to house the NGO employees and other anti-American entities.
Or those poor refugees
And the illegal freeloaders.
Thank you Jesus
At least there is some victory in this age against King George, who still seems to rule over the District of Criminals
Behind the facade, the masses are debt serfs.
Under constant threat of losing everything, subject to employers’ whims.
That’s how the experimental, ineffective, gravely harmful, and unnecessary genetic manipulation shots were coerced into the majority. (And still are, in medical colleges.)
That’s what we see with layoffs: A glimpse of the reality behind the facade.
And in the greater DC area, what a facade. Lots of newer cars and Grande Edifice and Infrastructure. All built with debt of all kinds, including the sovereign debt.
But these layoffs and terminations are fringe noise compared to the total federal budget, with ballooning debt that Trump continues growing apace with BBB. This is important to understand: The noise is just chaos and disruption, it does NOT signify a reduction in federal overspending.
While I am 100% in favor of a balanced budget each year and the USA paying back all its debt in say a generation – 20 years – with no money going to special interests of the politicians I would like to see the outline of some concrete ideas of how the president could navigate between prudent politicians and those in his own party who love spending and will undermine every good effort. While I am troubled by some of his moves, I know I have no idea of what is going on behind the scenes in the squabbles between wise and foolish politicians.
We don’t need to know, and our VSGPDJT isn’t going to give away any secrets.
Stunning that they are still subjecting medical students to the genetic munipultiaon shots….
We need the department of education to step in an stop this (before it shuts down) ..we need our medical personael NOT DAMAGED!
Nuke DC
We just had bunk numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics come out so why do we trust these numbers now? Don’t get me wrong, less government workers is key to liberty so I’d love to see govt unemployment grow along with private sector largess sucking off the governments teat. Don’t worry though, after 6 months they’ll fall off the unemployment rolls and nobody will notice their gone anymore.
“unemployment insurance is climbing steadily, with claims rising 64 percent between February and June — from 1,064 to 1,747. “
When this number is 1,747 to 100,747 you will know we have made some progress.
When people in government that are working against President Trump have been fired you will know we have made some progress.
Clean out the rats nest of grifters and carpetbaggers. Get rid of all of them!
Definitely!
Its a start!
While I hate thinking of individuals losing jobs and suffering hardship this is a necessary and long overdue shakeout. It should never have been allowed to get to this level. I hope it continues for the sake of our country.
Around 95-96% of those suffering job loss are leftists and voted for ozero, hitlery, and bite me. Who cares? Goes around, comes around. Let them eat cake.
DC has relentlessly expanded since the 1970s. Early on it was along I-270 out to Frederick, MD. Then Route 66 out to Manassas, VA and Route 50 from Fort Myer out Eastward. Obama wins office and there was huge expansion along the I-395 corridor South during and after his two terms.
Fed money expanded the presence of corporate HQs all over the map in areas like the strip that runs from the Beltway out to Dulles Airport. There is a huge, entrenched corporate workforce supporting various government agencies. We used to call that footprint at Fort Meade ‘Contractor Village’. Same footprint out by Tysons Corner in VA.
The real corporate influencers, lawyers, CEOs, etc., roost in their mansions in places like Potomac, MD.
Displacement going on now is a sea change but tip of the workforce iceberg.
The city just cut a multi-billion dollar deal with the Washington Redskins ownership to fund a new stadium and local development in the Anacostia area. This despite a growing annual budget deficit will be partially taxpayer funded.
Lot more pruning of the Federal budget (and relocation of Fed agencies) needed before DC area is truly impacted in a visceral way.
I am 72 years old and grew up on Great Falls. They called us “hicks” back in my boyhood but now GF is the uber-rich area, similar to Potomac MD.
Traffic is now higher than pre-Covid days, thankfully I am retiring in a few weeks. My commute is relatively short (20 minutes) and it takes me into the Ashburn corridor where all the huge data centers are sucking up electricity (and water!).
The gov contract I am on has us on 4-day renewals, because DHS Sec. Noam has to approve anything >$100k, which is peanuts in the fed spending realm. So our contracting team broke down our remaining 6 weeks under contract to 4-day renewals, since it falls under $100k and won’t require that signoff. Creative, yes, but it also means we could get cut off any time in the next 6 weeks. No worries for me as I said above I am retiring regardless, but it’s sad for my remaining teammates who are much younger than me.
Why and how do the data centers use so much water? I can understand the electricity. Water from workers flushing? A big data center is being built here in our area in east central Missouri and we are being warned about the shortage of water and electricity from it.
Cooling.
The corridor between US50 and VA7 has become a massive tech zone. Yes a lot of gov’t contracting but not all.
I used to live in Annapolis. Early on it was oriented towards Baltimore (sort of an outer suburb) but over time got more and more sucked into the DC orbit. At one time the Md suburbs of DC were working class black or emerging middle class, going out to Bowie. I think that has changed a lot.
On a personal note I was working in Arlington, and commuting from Annapolis was tough as the road network wasn’t designed for travel in that direction. (The main road, US50, dumped you onto New York Ave in kind of the middle of nowhere and the alternatives like DC295 worked you down through Anacostia but you still needed to figure out how to get on one of the Anacostia River bridges.)
RE Potomac, we we’re out that way one day when Avenel was being built and they had some model houses and we wondered who would pay $400k for a house?
More like the 80’s further west when I lived in Hagerstown, about 25 miles from Frederick. A lot of lush farmlands taken over and massive school building in the areas around Frederick, Washington and Carroll Counties.
The corridor also moved through West Virginia, Shepherdstown area along with Falling Waters down into Martinsburg. I believe there has been a train running down there for years now.
We were looking at retiring around Lovettsville, Point of Rocks area in Va but it didn’t work out. There is commuter train to Brunswick Md across the river. These days I’m thinking Winchester may be a better idea or Charles Town in WV
Truly, this is quite remarkable. With so many big distractions taking place it’s easy to miss something as wonderful as this.
Draining the swamp with fewer Federal employees! Another way to add to the flushing is the delegitimization of special interests and lobbyists in or anywhere near the DC complex.
Wait for the crying and gnashing of teeth over how bureaucratic job losses will end up hurting the residents of NE DC.
Don’t think there are many bureaucrats in NE. I think that area has been more impacted by the loss of federal blue collar jobs over the years. At one time federal work was one of the few jobs a black man could get that paid decently. But certainly things like clerical staff, typical GS-3 — GS-7 will feel it.
It’s a start. It should be reduced by 70% at least.