NEW: Earle-Sears Comments on Federal Layoffs Spark Outcry from Workers, Veterans

NEW: Earle-Sears Comments on Federal Layoffs Spark Outcry from Workers, Veterans

“Sears isn’t on the side of Virginians”

New reporting from the Virginia Mercury highlights the major backlash Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears is facing after she was caught on tape downplaying the recent federal job losses, and saying she “doesn’t understand” why Virginians losing their jobs is a “huge, huge thing.”

This is just the latest example of Sears downplaying the impacts of Trump and Musk’s attacks on Virginia’s workers and economy, after she previously told Virginians who are concerned about losing their jobs that they should “not fret” and embraced the sweeping cuts Trump and Musk were enacting, despite Virginia being home to 300,000 federal employees.

“Winsome Earle-Sears has proven that she cares more about supporting Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s partisan, job-killing agenda than standing up for Virginians,” said DGA National Press Secretary Devon Cruz. “Virginians deserve a governor who won’t hesitate to reject partisan politics and do what’s right for Virginia’s working families.”

Read More About the Virginians Speaking Out Against Sears’ Cruel Mockery:

• “She was caught on tape saying she doesn’t know why this is a huge deal,” said Christine Surette, national vice president for the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) District 4 and a former VA employee.
• “I’ve had to console employees who were laid off, who don’t know how they’ll make rent. Some have taken their own lives. Sears isn’t on the side of Virginians,” Surette said on a Zoom call set up by the Democratic Party of Virginia Thursday.
• The layoffs, which have significantly affected Virginia’s large population of veteran federal employees, are part of a broader federal workforce reduction effort launched under Trump’s second-term agenda of fiscal reset.
• A spokeswoman for Earle-Sears’ campaign declined to comment…
• “She’s talking about someone’s life being turned upside down,” said Monique Samuels, president of AFGE Local 1992, which represents Defense Logistics Agency workers in Richmond. “Losing a job in any situation is devastating. With thousands of Virginians facing layoffs, there will be a larger economic impact that will hurt every Virginian, but Sears doesn’t care.”
• The layoffs have already disrupted essential services at facilities like the Hampton VA Medical Center, where 12 employees initially lost their jobsalthough one later was allowed to return, and the soon-to-open clinic in Chesapeake, where local lawmakers are already raising concerns about staffing levels.
• Virginia is home to the Pentagon, multiple military bases and one of the highest veteran populations nationwide. Many of those veterans transition into federal civilian roles after their service — jobs that have become increasingly precarious as DOGE enacts mass terminations in the name of “efficiency.”
• “I understand firsthand the importance of ensuring that our VAs are fully staffed and prepared to care for and support the men and women who have served our country. And right now, that’s all at risk,” said Ottis Johnson, AFGE District 14 vice president and a veteran himself.
• “As VA and employees are facing layoffs, our veterans earned their benefits, and they deserve better than threats to their care. But it is not just veterans who are at risk because of these attacks on federal jobs. Virginia’s economy depends on federal jobs. People are going to feel this in every corner of the commonwealth.”
• “These are people who dedicated their lives to serving others … many of them twice, first in uniform and then in federal agencies. They deserve more than lip service. They deserve respect, support, and stability.”

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