nAomi Anderson was on vacation looking after her young baby when asked to work at the US Department of Agriculture, helping farmers in developing countries get cut. Anderson was a former Peace Corps volunteer who sends young Americans overseas to projects, and was hoping to spend her entire career in international development.

“I was in this job two years ago with the hopes of staying here for at least 10 years. We started building a community and building our lives here. In January, we began to consider buying a house,” she says.

Now, Anderson has to consider giving up an apartment in Washington, DC Commuter Town in Reston, Virginia. She shares her husband, her 4 month old baby and her almost 2 year old toddler.

“Financially, it’s a bit shaky and honestly, I don’t know what we’re trying to do,” Anderson says. He is an activist in the local branch of the AFSCME Union and dads in selling political merchandise. “We’re thinking about going back to Ohio. I’ve come from, my family. You know, it’s much cheaper.”

Anderson is not alone. “In our apartment, there’s a lot of garden sales and people have sold things and moved away. It’s too expensive to live here without a job, so people just look like they’re just picking up and leaving,” she says.

Such a tough life has been forced over the past few months as the so-called DOGE (DOGE) of government efficiency led by Donald Trump’s favorite tech billionaire Elon Musk cut jobs with cost cuts.

Data from the latest monthly Challenger Jobs report suggests that Doge has been responsible for cutting jobs to date by 281,452.

Brendan DeMitch is one of those who should be fired after losing his job as an engineer at the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. All of his colleagues working on the safety of the mine, as well as colleagues from the Sister Institute’s testing equipment, such as the respiratory system, will also leave more than 200 in total as part of a wave of cuts launched by Trump’s health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

“So many people are devastated,” says DeMic, chief steward of the local AFGE Union branch. He says that so many workers were taken away at once, that coworkers were unable to give them any kind of send-off. “We had to process the package and leave the door, so it left unexpectedly.”

Although each of these cuts has its own impact, experts warn of the increased risks they combine to cause economic cuts, especially in areas where government work is concentrated.

Liz Schuler, president of the AFL-CIO coalition of 63 unions representing more than 15 million American workers, is looking to build a nationwide campaign to highlight the devastating impact.

“The trick is to connect the dots because there is already a national story of what’s going on, but that’s not yet felt,” Scheller says. “Elon (Musk) has “government efficiency.” We have established the “Division of People Working for Livelihoods.” It’s cheeky, but it’s kind of serious because we say we’re working on the frontline.

“As a labor federation, we are clearly concerned about our jobs and the livelihoods of our people, but it has to do with our communities as well, and the fact that our economy is being affected in such a tough way has rippled over all the industries we represent,” she adds.

These ripples are particularly strong in towns and counties around Washington, DC. There, job losses and government cuts are constantly manifested in conversation.

Kate Bates is the chairman of the wealthy chamber of commerce in Arlington, Virginia, across the Potomac River from the US capital. She compares current uncertainty with the pandemic. “But during Covid, the federal government was a backstop, and so far it’s the federal government that’s causing a lot of this,” she says.

Bates reports that her members have warned of a slowdown not only for government contractors, but also for real estate and hospitality as a whole, with some reports already having to hire.

“What we hear from a lot of people is that if they can plan the cut, they’ll be in an OK position.

Companies that rely on government workers on customs are also feeling cold. Samir Nizam, general manager of Barley Mac Restaurant in Arlington, part of a small family-owned chain, noticed trade declines in almost all of its regular client groups.

Nearby hotels are not very occupied. “Happy Hour Party” reservations by accountants and consultants serving the federal government have dropped by two thirds. And many older locals are surprised by the volatility of the market.

“We can do a lot to turn things around. We can’t draw people to Washington or convince them to go out and do things,” Nizam says. “Barley Macs offer great food and provide great service, but they exist in financial margins like many restaurants, and because when they are in margins all year round, restaurants like us are not part of a huge national chain with deep pockets.”

Jess Miller, who set up Rock Spring Real Estate Solutions a few years ago, is holding a breakfast roundtable for clients on the top floor of a new, yet-unavailable office block in Arlington.

She found her clients hope to respond to the changing climate, get out of the transaction and negotiate an unusually short lease. Rather than looking for one anchor tenant, the owner of this building is splitting the floor.

“It’s different how they make decisions, it’s the reduction we see,” says Miller. “After first hitting an NGO, it was a hit, you know, a company and a contractor, and that’s a lot of senior management.”

Katherine Dozmura Friedman is the co-founder and CEO of Thumbprint, an Arlington-based startup that provides an artificial intelligence platform for designing office layouts.

“There’s no universe where things happen like the past few months, and there’s no serious consequences,” she says. “We have family friends and our neighbors lost their jobs. These are not the people we normally face layoffs. These are people who have reached the peak of their careers and are specialised.”

As far as business effectiveness is concerned, D’Zmura Friedman said:

In her office nearby, Renata Briggman, a residential real estate agent, has come to the idea that the Arlington housing market could be attacked.

However, she acknowledges the signs of change. “It’s definitely changing. We don’t see fire sales. It’s very slow. It’s very slow. It’s just starting to see it.

These challenges have been replicated throughout the region. Jimmy Olebson, president and CEO of National Capital Bank, which serves Washington, DC and its surrounding area, says the bank has yet to see signs of financial distress, including rising delinquent payments, but the mood is “anxious.” Many customers who have approved recent mortgage applications appear to be holding home hunting.

Some experts fear that this culmination of anxiety will be so prevalent in the coming months. An analysis by University of Virginia Regional Economics expert Dr. Joan Ferreira suggests that more than 320,000 people in the state are directly employed by the federal government, with another 441,000 jobs relying on taxpayer-funded contracts.

For example, construction, the same companies that worry about whether contracts will be cut, are also competing with rising prices for materials as a result of tariffs. Some border taxes have been suspended or reduced, but these restrictions, which remain average costs, are far higher than they did earlier this year.

In theory, the Trump administration was able to free the darkness by drawing a line under the budget, returning to his day job where Musk runs electric car maker Tesla. But key members of the Cabinet, including Kennedy and Defense Secretary Pete Hegses, are bragging about how much they cut from their budgets — and White House trade policies continue to adhere to in turn.

Ferreira said: “As an economist, I don’t think I’ve seen so much happen at the same time. But they all connect in the same direction and it’s a recession.”

He says Virginia has often been eased from past economic downturns due to past federal funding, but in this cycle, he hopes the state will lead the way. “We may definitely see other regions like Virginia and Maryland being at the forefront of this recession,” Ferreira says.

Meanwhile, for many affected individuals, the future looks very uncertain, despite the proposal of U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent to work in manufacturing. “For our team, we are committed to international development,” Anderson says. “We have a background in humanitarian work, and the Trump administration is trying to cut international foreign aid. So where do you go from there?”