Glenn Youngkin thinks the 300,000 Virginians whose jobs seem to be on the line with Donald Trump’s promise to “dismantle” the federal government can just get a job somewhere else.
“That may result in some job losses in federal government. I think that efficiencies oftentimes do result in that,” said Youngkin, a former hedge-fund guy with a net worth north of $400 million, so, yes, he feels your pain there, folks.
“The great thing about the Commonwealth of Virginia is that we have nearly 300,000 jobs that are unfilled,” Youngkin said on Tuesday, seeming to imply that federal government employees can just apply for the scores of entry-level retail, restaurant and other service-industry jobs in the market, and that would somehow make up the difference.
Roughly 17 percent of Virginia’s GDP is tied to the federal government; government services is our largest industry, an uncomfortable fact for politicians on both sides of the aisle who like to tout their efforts to bring in technology and manufacturing investments.
Another uncomfortable fact here for Youngkin: another 375,000 Virginians are employed by federal contractors.
If Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are able to drown the government in a bathtub, those jobs are going to go away, too.
“Just when I think Glenn Youngkin can’t sink any lower, he proves me wrong,” Democratic Party of Virginia Chair Susan Swecker said. “Virginians’ livelihoods are on the line. Our economy is at risk. Yet, he continues to bow to Trump, driven by nothing more than a desperate need for his approval.”
Actually, Youngkin wants a job, since he’s term-limited by the Virginia Constitution and can’t run for re-election, and his path to a U.S. Senate seat would have to run through Mark Warner in 2026.
“We will not back down in the face of any attempt by Donald Trump to move jobs from Virginia or to gut the careers of civil servants. While our governor abandons them, we will fight for them,” Swecker said.
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Chris Graham
