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Polls show Americans are broadly worried, if not disgusted, by the idea of Project 2025, a detailed plan drafted largely by members of Donald Trump’s administration, which would fill the government with Trump loyalists and enforce draconian policies if he’s elected.
Even though the MAGA DNA in Project 2025 is clear, Trump and his campaign have publicly tried to distance themselves from it — a sign of its political toxicity.
But one person who’s oddly calm about the potential damage Project 2025 could do to his state? Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin. To enact Project 2025, Trump loyalists have discussed reviving an executive order he tried to enact in 2020, known as “Schedule F,” which would have stripped federal civil servants of their protections and allowed Trump to fire people for whatever reason. For the more than 140,000 federal employees who work in Virginia, such a move could have devastating implications.
But Youngkin suggested federal workers in his state would be just fine even if they are purged from their positions for political reasons or if a second Trump administration relocates entire agencies, as Trump did with varying success during his first term.
According to WVTF public radio:
Governor Glenn Youngkin says Virginia’s over 140,000 civilian federal employees have little to fear if former President Donald Trump’s promise to fire many of them comes true. “There are fabulous opportunities for folks to find a new employer in Virginia should the one they work for move away,” Youngkin said after a recent meeting of the Governor’s Advisory Council on Revenue Estimates, or GACRE. Trump has said he plans to “reign in bureaucrats…”
Brad kutner, wvtf radio
In a campaign video this year, Trump said, “As many as 100,000 government positions could be moved out, and I mean immediately, of Washington to places filled with patriots.” But for Youngkin to tell hundreds of thousands of federal employees, many of whom may have been working in their positions for years, that they could easily transition into these “fabulous” jobs sounds beyond naive — if not downright callous. And Virginia Democrats were quick to pounce on Youngkin for the remarks.
Virginia's governor has managed to pitch himself as a centrist and gets portrayed as a rising Republican star. But his remarks here highlight one glaring flaw: Though he can seem genial in person, that persona often feels like a cover for cruel and draconian policies.