House Democrats are leading an effort to fight President Trump’s sweeping overhaul of the federal government through a task force that could lead to lawsuits against the administration, representing states that receive more than $231.5 billion of federal funding.
That is about 15% of all government funding for states and territories.
Launched by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the Rapid Response Task Force and Litigation Working Group includes Reps. Joe Neguse of Colorado, Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, Gerry Connolly of Virginia and Jamie Raskin of Maryland.
Democrats are attempting to keep up with the White House’s rapid-fire pace of executive orders by forming coalitions on Capitol Hill and finding allied organizations nationwide to file lawsuits to halt the momentum of Mr. Trump’s agenda.
Mr. Jeffries in a letter to his colleagues early last week described the group as part of a “multifaceted struggle to protect and defend everyday Americans from the harm being inflicted by this administration.”
Mr. Jeffries confirmed on MSNBC Friday that more than 65 lawsuits have been filed related to at least 25 executive orders issued by Mr. Trump.
“And the American people are actually winning those lawsuits and Donald Trump and his administration are losing. We have to keep that up,” Mr. Jeffries said.
As Elon Musk and his team at the Department of Government Efficiency seek ways to hack away at waste and abuse in the federal government, the Democratic lawmakers’ states have the most to lose from federal spending cuts, as many federal employees work in their states and districts.
According to USASpending.gov, each lawmaker’s state receives tens of billions of dollars in federal spending, with New York getting nearly $90 billion, Colorado receiving over $20 billion, Connecticut getting over $33 billion, Virginia receiving over $58 billion and Maryland hauling in more than $30 billion.
Additionally, according to the Congressional Research Service, the same states employ tens of thousands of federal employees, with Virginia employing more than 341,000 federal employees.
Nearly 52,000 federal employees work in Mr. Connolly’s 11th Congressional District.
A spokeswoman from Mr. Connolly’s office said 80% of the federal workforce lives outside the Beltway.
“Trump’s attacks will harm every congressional district and all Americans who rely on the federal government,” she told The Washington Times on Saturday.
Maryland has more than 326,000 federal employees, with Mr. Raskin’s 8th District employing 59,000 of them.
New York has over 187,000 federal employees, and Mr. Jeffries’ 8th District employs about 8,000 of them, while Mr. Neguse’s 2nd District employs just over 7,000 of Colorado’s nearly 88,000 federal workers.
Connecticut has nearly 32,000 federal employees, with Ms. Delauro’s 3rd District employing 6,500 of them.
The lawmakers offices’ from those three states had not responded to requests for comment Saturday.
Mr. Trump’s recent actions to cut the federal bureaucracy have won praise from Republicans on Capitol Hill, who say the president is eliminating long-time waste and abuse within the federal agencies, while Democrats have decried his moves as illegal and unconstitutional.
On Thursday, Mr. Connolly, who is ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, said of the mass terminations, “When you see government as your opportunity to turn a profit, you will never serve the public good. This mindless approach to slashing the federal workforce and gutting vital programs and protections will make Trump’s government incapable of delivering for the American people.”
“This is the Project 2025 blueprint the GOP tried to hide from voters, and it will cause devastating cuts in services that will hurt millions of Americans and scar our communities now and for years to come. These are not faceless bureaucrats—they are the public servants that inspect your food, provide care to our veterans, and make sure you get your social security benefits.”
The president’s most recent moves last week resulted in the termination of thousands of recently hired employees who were still on probationary status. The Veterans Affairs Department said it fired over 1,000 nonunion workers who had been on the job for less than two years, for example.
The mass firings are on top of the voluntary “deferred resignation” initiative offered by the Trump administration to federal workers who agree to leave their jobs Sept. 30 in exchange for being paid until then.
About 75,000 people had accepted that offer as of Wednesday, the White House said.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.