Virginia’s venerable federal legislators, U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine and, for this area, U.S. Rep. Don Beyer, have taken numerous strong stands against the moves by the Trump-Musk administration in the last two months since Trump returned to the White House.
U.S. Sen. Warner assailed the Trump tariffs that went into effect yesterday. The 25 percent tariffs target foreign steel and aluminum, triggering additional tariffs and retaliatory fees and hurting consumers.
Warner said in a statement, “Let’s be clear, today’s action by the Trump administration to levy a 25 percent tax on the importation of all steel and aluminum into the U.S. will jack up costs for consumers and small businesses across the Commonwealth and the nation. These tariffs will significantly increase input costs for small businesses, put homeownership further out of reach for Virginians, and threaten good-paying manufacturing jobs across America.
“They will also endanger the Commonwealth’s greatest economic engine – the Port of Virginia – by targeting commerce and potentially threatening activity at the port. Americans don’t want a reckless and misguided trade war. I’m going to keep working to lower prices for families and fighting to ensure we don’t turn our back on our allies.”
Congressman Beyer issued a statement Tuesday on Musk and Trump’s mass firing of thousands of employees at the U.S. Department of Education. He said,
“Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s political purge of the Department of Education is a gross betrayal of American students. It is also illegal: Trump is plainly trying to eliminate by fiat a department established in law by Congress.
“Gutting the Department of Education would have horrific effects on American students and schools. Teachers will be fired, students will go hungry, college will be less affordable, and the worst harm will fall on students with disabilities and students of color. All this just to put a few more dollars into the pockets of billionaires – it is truly disgusting.
“Department of Education workers, many of whom I represent, learned of their terminations in waves last night that included the elimination of entire offices. These steep cuts heavily targeted hundreds of attorneys, student aid workers, and civil rights office staff. Trump and Musk’s abysmal abuse of the federal civil service is only getting worse, and the loss of these workers and their expertise will further harm the delivery of key services to the American people – in this case to our students.
“I will be joining colleagues to conduct vigorous oversight of this matter. This provides still more reason to vote against continuing the status quo of Trump-inflicted destruction of the federal government and mass firings of federal workers, if any were needed.”
Sen. Warner and Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) introduced the Protect Our Probationary Employees Act, legislation aimed at protecting recently fired federal workers. The legislation would ensure that if and when employees are reinstated, they will not need to restart their probationary period for the same job they previously held. The legislation was introduced in the House of Representatives by U.S. Rep. Sarah Elfreth (D-Md.).
“Over the past 50 days, more than 20,000 non-political civil servants have been ruthlessly booted from their jobs without cause. Unsurprisingly, a number of these individuals are now being reinstated, either through legal proceedings or because the Trump-Musk administration has realized that these jobs were necessary, and these employees not easily replaced,” said Warner. “This important legislation would ensure that those dedicated civil servants are able to pick back up where they left off and finish out their probationary periods without penalty.”
“The Trump-Musk illegal purge of federal employees has unfairly harmed thousands of dedicated civil servants and their families, while threatening the critical services they provide day in and day out to the American people. There is clearly no method to this madness – swept up in this chaos were longtime career employees who were recently promoted, along with others who had received glowing performance reviews for their good work. We will continue fighting to reverse these reprehensible actions in the courts – and as those efforts allow employees to return to their jobs, this legislation guarantees that these employees don’t have to restart the clock,” said Sen. Van Hollen.
Warner has been outspoken about the ramifications the Trump-Musk administration’s reckless actions will have on the federal workforce. During Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Russell Vought’s confirmation hearing, Sen. Warner grilled him on his plans to ‘traumatize’ federal workers.
Warner has also repeatedly warned of the impact these actions will have on public health, national security, and veterans’ services. He highlighted the real-world impact of these cuts during President Trump’s State of the Union Address, bringing Ashley Ranalli, a recently fired National Park Service ranger, as his guest.