Senate Standing Committee on Investigations and Government Operations – 04/07/2025

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."

You can read more here.

The Justice Department clashed with U.S. District Court Judge Paula Xinis in a Tuesday hearing over what the U.S. government acknowledged was an accidental deportation of a Maryland father.

Kilmar Ábrego García was shipped to a prison in El Salvador despite a judge ruling that García could not be deported there. The U.S. government has claimed that García is an MS-13 gang member, but one legal analyst wrote Tuesday there's reason to question this.

According to Politico's Kyle Cheney, Xinis said that every day Ábrego García is in the Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, is "a day of further irreparable harm."

"If not this court, then who, to engage in process. It’s process that is in the roots of our constitution, so we have to give process to both sides...There will be no tolerance for gamesmanship or grandstanding," the judge said.

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She also questioned the administration's definition of the word "facilitate," which comes from a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court, in which the high court ordered the administration to "facilitate" García's return.

The administration's definition flies in the face of the plain meaning of the word, the judge said, according to Cheney. "When a wrongfully removed individual [is outside US borders], it's not so cut-and-dried that all you have to do is remove obstacles domestically."

CNN reported that the judge appeared willing to consider an expansion of the definition of "facilitate." The Justice Department asked for an appeal to stay that decision.

The judge said, "The Supreme Court has spoken. My order is clear. It's direct. There is, in my view, nothing to appeal."

See the clip below or at the link here.

- YouTube youtu.be

The wife of Kilmar Abrego Garcia made emotional remarks outside of a courthouse in Maryland where Garcia's legal team is fighting to bring him back to the U.S..