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The mass firings of government workers by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has business leaders in the Beltway fearing a localized recession could be on the way.

According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, restaurants, hotels and other businesses are witnessing in real-time sales plunging as workers lose their jobs or dial back spending due to a possible job loss.

As the Journals' Paul Kiernan and Rachel Louise Ensign wrote, "Economists believe government layoffs and looming budget cuts will push the Washington, D.C., metro area into a recession, challenging its reputation for economic resilience."

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In an interview, Julie Coons, president of the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce, painted a dark picture of the immediate future, explaining, "We see this as potentially catastrophic for the region," before adding, "This is our Detroit moment.”

The Journal report notes, "In Arlington’s Rosslyn neighborhood, bookings at the Residence Inn are 10% to 15% below target for the coming months, according to general manager Flavia Sampaio, who said local hotels rely heavily on business from government agencies. Across the Potomac River in D.C., Bluebird Sky Yoga co-owner Kristine Erickson has seen a slowdown in people seeking yearlong memberships," adding, "Sales at Cork Wine Bar & Market, a restaurant on a bustling stretch of 14th Street, fell about 15% to 20% in February compared with the same month last year, said co-owner Diane Gross. March sales were helped by a 'tariff sale' of bottles of wine but still ended down around 10%."

The report continued, "Oxford Economics projects gross domestic product in the Washington, D.C., metro area will fall 0.5% over the course of this year. This is the second-worst projected performance for any of the 50 largest U.S. metro areas after New Orleans, where tariffs are a significant risk, said Barbara Denham, lead economist for cities and regions."

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The conservative outlet National Review hammered President Donald Trump this week over his recent attacks on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

“If Donald Trump is upset about higher interest rates, he should stop doing just about everything he can to undermine the U.S. economy in the eyes of the world,” the editors wrote.

Between tariffs and the attacks on Powell, the U.S. is becoming “a riskier place to do business," the editors said.

“[When] the independence of the central bank comes under threat from the president, people will demand higher yields to make buying U.S. sovereign debt worth their while.”

The outlet noted the best way to see how “real investors with real money” feel is to watch the market as it reacts to Trump’s decisions. “Their verdict is clear: They don’t like it, they’re going to keep saying so with their money as long as the president doesn’t change course, and that has real negative consequences for Americans.”

“The stock market is down, and that’s bad. Worse is the simultaneous decline in the value of the dollar and the price of U.S. government bonds.”

The editors said declines like this typically happen “in poor countries facing economic crises, not in the richest country in the history of the world.”

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“There’s a constitutional argument to be made that such a restriction on the president’s power is impermissible. But it shouldn’t even get to that point, because firing Powell is not helpful to Trump’s own interests.”

They went on to claim, “Voters want economic stability, and firing Powell would only create more instability.”

America’s debt is also becoming more difficult to finance, meaning the demand for government bonds will go down with it. They believe this means “future tax increases, inflation, or both are on the way.”

The board does have a solution to stop the “chaotic and ill-considered trade and monetary policies,” which is to “keep any one person [Trump] from being able to change them at will. That has been the traditional American practice, and it would be best to follow it.”