After weeks of playing defense, some D.C.-area leaders are now considering a more aggressive approach to the Trump administration.

“We know the president responds to pressure. It’s really important that we continue to fight,” said Fairfax Supervisor James Walkinshaw during a Wednesday (March 12) meeting of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG).

But Walkinshaw acknowledged that he, and others who might want to go on offense, fear that others may not be eager to join.

“There’s a sense of fatalism in the region,” said Walkinshaw, who chairs the Fairfax supervisors’ legislative committee.

But others shared his desire to turn the tables on the Trump administration’s efforts to cut federal jobs, programs and entire departments .

Local leaders need to focus on “explaining to the rest of the country what the effects are on them,” said David Snyder, a member of the Falls Church City Council.

Exactly how that can be done remains a work in progress. But Arlington’s top elected official said one place to start was 90 miles south of the local region.

“Pressure the governor,” County Board Chair Takis Karantonis said.

Echoing previous efforts of Democrats on the Fairfax Board of Supervisors, Karantonis suggested that Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) might be able to convince the president and his administration to back off from additional cuts. At a minimum, he suggested they could provide more support for those losing their jobs.

Compared to during Covid, the D.C. region is “in for a far longer pain,” Karantonis predicted. In part, he said, because there was no entity providing a safety net or financial backstop to the local region, as the federal government did during the pandemic.

“There is no money to expect from anyone else,” he said.

The number of federal workers who have seen their jobs eliminated through reductions in force currently is not known. Figures for the local area at at best speculative, at worst unavailable.

“These numbers are changing every day,” said COG executive director Clark Mercer. He expected a repeat of what transpired during the first part of the Covid pandemic, when “it took several months for the [economic] data to start showing what’s happening.”

Using U.S. Census Bureau figures from 2023, COG estimates there are just under 400,000 civilian federal employees living in its service area, which includes DC, nine Virginia cities and counties and four Maryland counties.

All told, the federal workforce comprises about 17% of the region’s total employment, and provides jobs for about 173,000 Northern Virginians. Statewide, that figure grows to more than 321,000 — slightly more than one in 10 jobs.

Mercer said data, while ever-evolving, was useful to help fill out the big picture. He pressed regional leaders to offer their constituents “a level-headed discussion” about what already has happened, what is happening now and what might happen.

“Get the facts out,” Mercer said.

COG has unveiled a new online portal with up-to-date data, job opportunities and resources for those finding their livelihoods imperiled.

At the March 12 meeting, leaders of jurisdictions large and small took their turn to lament the current situation. None had a forecast more dire than D.C. City Council member Phil Mendelson.

Job losses and the economic troubles to follow could force his District’s local government to lay off workers, trim resources to fight crime and reduce its contributions supporting the Metro system, among other actions.

“That’s the picture,” Mendelson said, acknowledging it was not a pretty one.