Maryland Gov. Wes Moore announced a new expedited hiring process for some state government positions on Friday amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s large-scale federal job cuts.
The state released websites where laid-off federal workers can apply for multiple state job openings with a single application. There are pages for state government jobs such as human resource positions, procurement officers, accountants and fiscal accounts technicians, according to a Friday news release from Moore.
An estimated 2,700 federal workers in Maryland lost their jobs in March, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The state’s revenue board estimates predicted in March that more than 28,000 federal workers in the state would lose their jobs under Trump’s administration.
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“These are our people and they are under attack,” Moore said at a bill signing Tuesday. “We have to make sure that we are doing everything in our power to make sure that we are supporting them, and make sure that we are making it easier for them to land on their feet when it’s the federal government that are pushing them down.”
Job applications under the new program will be expedited, with the interview process starting as soon as a few weeks after submission, Moore’s news release read. This round of applications will be available until May 2, followed by recurring hiring waves in the future.
Moore also announced several steps the state government is taking to support federal workers during a Feb. 28 press conference. Moore said the state will work with local governments to set up job fairs, create online resources and connect laid-off federal workers with teaching jobs.
Moore signed the Protect Our Federal Workers Act on Tuesday, a bill that will provide no-interest loans and unemployment assistance to Maryland’s laid-off federal workers. The bill will also expand the state’s Catastrophic Event Account to be used to support federal workers who were laid off.
“We knew from day one that Donald Trump would be coming after our federal workers,” House of Delegates speaker Adrienne Jones (D-Baltimore County) said at the Tuesday bill signing. “His administration has pursued the aggressive and illegal termination of thousands of Maryland federal employees with the express goal to vilify and traumatize them at every turn.”
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Sen. Jim Rosapepe (D-Anne Arundel and Prince George’s ), one of the bill’s co-sponsors, said it was important for the state to “step up” amid federal cuts and financial impacts on Maryland federal workers.
“The effects [of federal actions] are already being felt by people who’ve lost their jobs, by people who still are in their jobs but don’t know they’re going to have a job, as well as the fear that’s created among people who depend on services of federal employees,” Rosapepe, who represents College Park, told The Diamondback.
Jones and Maryland Senate president Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) also announced a new federal action oversight committee on April 7, the last day of the General Assembly’s session.
The oversight committee will track federal actions and coordinate Maryland’s response while lawmakers are in recess.
“I don’t see job loss as collateral damage,” Jones said during Tuesday’s press conference. “And I don’t see our federal workers as political props.”
