Newly elected Virginia Rep. James Walkinshaw says that President Donald Trump’s administration’s threat of mass firing was an “amateurish attempt to negotiate” amid a looming government shutdown.
Walkinshaw, a Democrat whose Virginia district is home to many residents who are part of the federal workforce, talked with WTOP anchor Nick Iannelli on Thursday and shared what he said everyone in Congress should be doing.
Listen to the interview below.
The transcript below has been lightly edited for clarity.
- Nick Iannelli:
I feel like Democratic lawmakers in Virginia are in a uniquely difficult spot because of the nature of the federal workforce and the saturation of the federal workforce, especially in your district.
So where are you at with this right now? What is your mindset?
- James Walkinshaw:
Well first, with respect to the threat of mass firing and the memo that came out, I think it’s complete bluster and BS.
The Trump administration has no more legal authority to fire federal workers or implement mass firing of federal workers in a shutdown than they do today, when the government’s open. In a shutdown, federal workers have their civil service protections under the law. In a shutdown, if the administration wants to implement a reduction in force, they have to follow precisely the same rigorous process that they have to follow today.
So if the Trump administration attempts, if there’s a shutdown, to do an inrun around that process, they’ll end up in court, and I’m confident that they’ll lose in court.
- Nick Iannelli:
So one question here has been, is this a negotiation tactic or is this a real threat?
And judging by what you just said, it sounds like you are firmly in the category of this is not real. This is the Trump administration trying to negotiate.
- James Walkinshaw:
Yeah, and I think it’s an amateurish attempt to try to negotiate. The way to negotiate is to sit down and have a meeting. But President Trump has refused to even meet with Democratic leaders to negotiate a bipartisan agreement to cancel the cuts to health care and keep the government open, but this memo as a negotiating tactic is embarrassing.
- Nick Iannelli :
Do you think it’s a gamble to view it as just a negotiating tactic and not a legitimate effort to carry out these mass layoffs?
- James Walkinshaw:
No, I don’t think it’s a gamble because the law is very clear. The Trump administration has no additional legal authority to carry out mass firings in a shutdown than they do when the government’s open.
They’ve been conducting firings and trying to conduct firings for nine months now, sometimes legally, many times illegally. They’ve been blocked by the courts in cases where it’s been deemed to be illegal, and if they tried to do that during a shutdown, I think they’d be blocked by the courts as well.
- Nick Iannelli :
It is very possible that no matter what the legal situation is, the Trump administration would attempt mass layoffs, because the Trump administration has tested these boundaries throughout this year. So, vulnerable federal employees out there who may or may not receive a RIF notice if the Trump administration works to carry out this threat, what is your message to those federal employees out there? Is your message, ‘Just hang tight. The legal system will go your way eventually?’
- James Walkinshaw:
My message is one: I’m doing what everybody in Congress should be doing, and urging a real bipartisan negotiation to resolve the differences that exist and get a bipartisan funding agreement in place to avoid the shutdown.
Second, my message with respect to the threat of mass firings or layoffs and federal workers know this: The Trump administration has been doing this for nine months. They assert that they have the legal authority to shut down federal agencies, to shut down federal offices, to fire federal workers, and they’ve been doing it en masse to the tune of hundreds of thousands of federal workers over the last nine months. A shutdown won’t change that.
I expect that the Trump administration’s efforts to fire federal employees will continue whether the federal government is open or shut down.
- Nick Iannelli :
In Congress, what’s the feeling right now when you think about the chances of a government shutdown happening? In your eyes, from your perspective, what are the chances of a government shutdown at this point?
- James Walkinshaw :
There was some optimism earlier this week when President Trump agreed to sit down finally and meet with Democratic leaders. I think had that meeting occurred, there would have been a possibility of an agreement or some movement toward an agreement. But when the president went on social media to cancel that bipartisan meeting. I think the odds of a shutdown went way, way up.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
© 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
