Trump’s moves to slash federal workers are raising alarms in Maryland

WASHINGTON — Union leaders and elected officials who represent tens of thousands of federal workers in Maryland are reviewing what they say are potentially harmful impacts of President Donald Trump’s moves to implement a hiring freeze, end work-from-home policies and, eventually, remove thousands of workers from the federal payroll.

The immediate results of the new president’s executive orders — which could play an outsized role in Maryland compared to other states — are still being determined as Trump’s second term takes shape. On Tuesday, the Trump administration directed all federal diversity, equity and inclusion staff to be put on leave.

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U.S. Rep. April McClain Delaney, a Montgomery County Democrat who said her district is home to 35,000 federal workers, said she’s been hearing from “numerous constituents who are extremely worried about these policies.”

As a former civil servant herself — as a deputy assistant secretary of communications at the Department of Commerce before her campaign last year — McClain Delaney said she “strongly urge[s] President Trump to proudly recognize the work of our federal employees — not diminish it.”