Hundreds of protesters rallied Tiuesday near the Capitol in support of federal workers, as the Trump administration continues its assaulst on the federal civil service. (Photo by bJoey Barke/Capital News Service)
By Mennatalla Ibrahim and Colin McNamara
WASHINGTON — Maryland Democratic Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks joined other members of the state’s congressional delegation and federal employee unions near the U.S. Capitol Tuesday to denounce the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the federal civil service.
“The really callous, heartless, horrible witch hunt that is occurring right now against our civil servants is not just an attack on you—it’s an attack on the American people,” Alsobrooks told the hundreds of federal workers at the rally.
The American Federation of Government Employees, the largest union for federal employees in the country, hosted the “Rally to Save Civil Service” as part of its annual legislative conference.
“This has nothing to do with making the government more efficient,” Van Hollen said at the event. “This is the most corrupt bargain in American history — Elon Musk spent over $280 million to elect Donald Trump, and Donald Trump hands Elon Musk the keys to federal agencies.”
Trump created the White House’s Department of Government Efficiency on Jan. 20, appointing billionaire Elon Musk to lead the agency, which aims to cut federal spending. The temporary department, set to shut down on July 4, 2026, has since offered federal employees resignation packages known as a “Fork in the Road,” moved to close the U.S. Agency for International Development and canceled diversity, equity and inclusion contracts across the federal government, among a blizzard of other actions.
“We’re at a fork in the road, and we need to take the fork that says, ‘Shut down the Elon Musk illegal operation,’” Van Hollen said.
The senators were joined by Maryland Reps. Steny Hoyer (D-5th), April McClain Delaney (D-6th) and Sarah Elfreth (D-3rd), who also condemned Trump and Musk’s “illegal” attempts to politicize and privatize the federal workforce. They urged Republican lawmakers to join Democrats in upholding the Constitution in the Senate and the House.
Blitzkrieg of federal budget attacks drive angst in Maryland
“We are sponsoring and co-sponsoring so many bills, but we cannot move unless three of our colleagues come along with us,” McClain Delaney said, citing the Republicans’ slim majority in the House. “We need you to show up and say that you do not sign a loyalty oath to a president. You serve the American people and the Constitution.”
Hoyer warned against returning to a civil service “filled with political hacks who cared about their own interests.”
“We [in Congress] talk up here and we send paper out … but frankly, we don’t get the work done,” he said, addressing the federal workers. “We don’t tend to the people in the hospital. We don’t tend to the people who have a fire. We don’t tend to people who (have) people breaking in their homes and they need us to come. You do that! You make a difference every day in the lives of every American.”
The nearly two-hour rally featured 29 speakers, including House and Senate Democrats representing states across the country, many of whom used expletives to denounce Trump and Musk actions.
“F— Donald Trump and Elon Musk,” said Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.). “The two words you should be hearing from your federal government are ‘Thank you’ … instead, they’re going around attacking you and the services that you’re providing.”
The AFGE has seen a historic surge in new membership since Trump’s anti-federal worker directives, reaching a record 321,000 paying members as of early February, the union said in a recent press release.
“When your grandkids ask, ‘Where were you when billionaires and oligarchs tried to take America?’ You will say, ‘We were right here in the capital, taking it back, inch by inch, brick by brick,” AFGE Vice President Kendrick Roberson said.
Van Hollen said that he encourages recently laid off federal employees — who make up nearly 6% of Maryland’s total employment, according to a 2024 report by the Maryland comptroller — to take legal action.
“We’re working with [federal employees and contractors] to try to make sure that we can make them whole and most importantly, put an end to this illegal takeover by Elon Musk,” Van Hollen said.
– CNS reporter Joey Barke contributed to this story. Capital News Service is a student-staffed reporting service operated by the University of Maryland’s Phillip Merrill College of Journalism. Stories are available at the CNS site and may be reprinted as long as credit is given to Capital News Service and, most importantly, to the students who produced the work.