How Musk's Drastic Job Cuts Are Complicating Virginia State Budget

MCLEAN, VA — With the chaos of thousands of federal workers losing their jobs as President Donald Trump and DOGE head Elon Musk seek to downsize the federal government, the fate of this year's bipartisan budget remains unclear, two Virginia lawmakers told a crowd Monday night.

“We've got money for children's mental health, doing a lot more on mental health,” said Rep. Rip Sullivan (D-McLean). “We've got more money for special ed. We've got more money for school construction. So we've focused a lot on families and kids' education. We've got money in there trying to fight back against the high cost of child care and make that more affordable.”

Sullivan told residents crowded into the McLean Community Center meeting room for an update at the end of the legislative session that he hopes everything in the state budget will remain. But, the impact of the Trump administration and Musk’s actions with the Department of Government Efficiency is expected to have on Virginia’s economy is unknown.

At least 105,961 workers have been fired from federal agencies so far, CNN reported on March 19.

“What's going on across the river endangers all of it,” said Sullivan, adding that lawmakers might have to go back to Richmond once the full impact of Trump and Musk's actions is clearer.

In Northern Virginia, there were 81,139 federal civilian jobs located in Northern Virginia and 192,656 in Virginia during the second quarter of 2024, according to a fact sheet released in February 2025 by the senior regional demographer of the Northern Virginia Regional Commission.

While 175,436 Northern Virginia residents held federal civilian jobs in 2023, the NVRC reported that a total of 341,477 residents of Virginia held federal civilian jobs.

To address some of the uncertainty caused by the turmoil in Washington, D.C., Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin said Monday he was going to add $300 million to bolster Virginia’s rainy-day fund. That amount would be on top of nearly $295 million already slated to be set aside over the biennium, according to the Associated Press.

Youngkin said the reserved revenue would give Virginia's budget a cushion of $5 billion.

Del. Don Scott (D-Portsmouth), speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, appointed a bipartisan committee to determine what the fiscal impact of the firing of thousands of federal workers and the shuttering of government agencies will have on the state’s economy.

“They're going to be going around the Commonwealth, talking to experts, trying to figure these issues out,” Sullivan said about the committee. “But I'm here to tell you that some of us give a damn about people who devoted their lives to working for the federal government.”

Sullivan was also very concerned about what would happen if the federal contribution to Medicaid was cut off.

“We now have over 600,000 people who work for a living but don't make much money,” he said. “Children all over Virginia, something like half of these children receive Medicaid. Disabled kids, disabled adults, are on Medicaid. If those changes are made … over 600,000 people will get thrown off the Medicaid rolls.”

Sullivan hopes that a COVID-era tax credit that allows tens of thousands of Virginia to lower their monthly health insurance bills will continue.

“These are two freight trains coming right at us based on what's happening across the river,” he said.

In a typical year, the post-legislative town hall meeting that Sullivan and State Sen. Jennifer Boysko (D-Herndon) host would be an opportunity for constituents to hear about what happened during the recent Virginia General Assembly session in Richmond.

Boysko briefly mentioned the defeat of the casino referendum bill and the three pieces of legislation she introduced on gun safety, paid family medical leave and reproductive rights that failed to move forward or were vetoed by the governor.

Youngkin proposed more than 200 changes Monday night to the bipartisan budget passed by the Virginia General Assembly, WRIC reported. That means legislators will return to Richmond next week to consider Youngkin’s changes. If they reject his amendments, Youngkin must decide whether to sign or veto the budget bill as currently written.

The governor recommended this piece of legislation introduced by Boysko: SB1237: Medical Assistance Services, Department of; appeals of agency determinations.

On Tuesday morning, Sullivan learned the governor vetoed three of the bills he sponsored:

• HB1775: Divorce; adultery, filing, parties living separate and apart.
• HB1791: Electric Vehicle Rural Infrastructure Program and Fund created.
• HB2550: Noise abatement monitoring systems; counties in Planning Districts 8 and 16 to place & operate.

Youngkin recommended one bill that Sullivan sponsored:

• HB2537: Electric utilities; energy storage requirements; Department of Energy and Department of Environmental Quality to develop model ordinances; work groups; reports.

The Associated Press contributed to the reporting of this story.