As Washington prepares for President-elect Donald Trump’s second inauguration, many questions remain about what changes the incoming administration will make and what effect they will have on Greater Washington’s economy.
But one of the potentially most destabilizing and long-term changes would be if the soon-to-be president follows through on his goal to reduce federal employment in this region — a bedrock of the local economy where roughly one in 11 people work directly for the federal government and many more work as contractors.
Some 370,000 people across D.C., suburban Maryland and Northern Virginia are federal employees. Federal civilian employment in D.C. alone is 162,144 as of December — more than any other U.S. territory or state, according to data from the Congressional Research Service.
Roughly 27% of wage and salary income earned in D.C. is from federal work, said Erica Williams, executive director of the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute.
