Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin is trying to figure out how to help his party keep the governor’s mansion when his term is up this year — a challenge that may become more difficult as Elon Musk’s lawless DOGE rampage continues to directly impact the more than 140,000 federal workers who live in the state.
Youngkin has been trying to straddle a rhetorical line in recent weeks, offering his undying loyalty to the Trump administration and its purge of the federal workforce, while also explaining to the large chunk of his constituents personally impacted by the firings that he, does, in fact, know it sucks to lose your job.
“When I was growing up, my father lost his job twice,” he said during an often tone deaf press event this week, during which he announced a new state website to help people who are getting cleared out of the federal government by Musk find new jobs.
“We have a federal government that is inefficient, and we have an administration that is taking on that challenge of rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse and driving efficiency in our federal government. It needed to happen,” he shrugged.
“We have a lot of federal workers in the Commonwealth,” he continued, “and I want to make sure that they know we care about them and we value them and we want them to find that next chapter.”
That’s when he announced the new website, virginiahasjobs.com, to help people find employment either within Virginia’s government or in private-sector positions. The website mostly just links back to job listings on Indeed and LinkedIn. It also includes links to other websites that help people apply for unemployment or offer résumé tips. It advertises some sort of “virtual” job fair event, scheduled for March 5.
This is a sample section of the advice page:
Start by analyzing each job posting to identify the key skills and qualifications they are seeking. Customize your resume for each position by highlighting the most relevant skills and experiences listed in the job description.
Virginia House Speaker Don Scott, a Democrat, is already criticizing Youngkin over the move, calling the website “an insult.”
“It’s insensitive for him to tell these people who are now being devastated that the only solution he has is to send them to a website where they can (link to) benefits that they are already entitled to,” Scott said in a statement.
While Youngkin can’t run for reelection due to Virginia’s Constitution, which prevents governors from serving consecutive terms, his Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears is considered the Republican frontrunner in the race. But Earle-Sears attempts to show federal workers in the Commonwealth that he is concerned about their livelihoods was no less amateur hour than Youngkin’s. Per The Bulwark:
Online attempts yesterday to soothe Virginia’s laid-off federal workers weren’t going much better. Lieutenant Gov. Winsome Sears, who is running to replace the term-limited Youngkin, released a direct-to-camera video acknowledging “concern about the federal government workforce transition,” and sharing five links to “additional resources to assist.” All five links led to broken “404 Page Not Found” website errors.
The Best Of TPM Today
DOJ Hires A State Judge Who Was Once Suspended To Advise The Deputy AG
As Trump Marauds Through Executive Branch, SCOTUS May—MAY—Have A Red Line
Bongino Has Long Pushed Conspiracy Theories About An ‘Irredeemably Corrupt’ FBI In Need Of A Purge
Yesterday’s Most Read Story
BIG: DOGE Firings Found Unlawful by Office of Special Counsel
What We Are Reading
Federal technology staffers resign rather than help Musk and DOGE
DOGE Quietly Deletes the 5 Biggest Spending Cuts It Celebrated Last Week
Nearly 40% of contracts canceled by Musk’s DOGE are expected to produce no savings
