Maryland
Maryland veterans express concern over federal workforce cuts during roundtable discussion
At a roundtable discussion hosted by Senator Van Hollen in Baltimore County Tuesday, veterans said they were disproportionately impacted by the Trump administration’s efforts to reduce the size of the federal workforce.
According to Van Hollen, the federal government employs more than 700,000 veterans, including 40,000 in Maryland – with a significant amount being disabled veterans.
In Maryland, many veterans said they were shocked after losing their jobs, while others who were still employed said they were uncertain about their job security.
Why is the Trump administration shrinking the federal workforce?
In February, President Trump said the federal workforce was too big, describing it as “bloated”, and being filled with “people that are unnecessary.”
An order instructing federal agencies to lay off all probationary federal employees who had not yet gained civil service protection followed Mr. Trump’s remarks.
Van Hollen said Tuesday that many terminated employees were told they were being fired for “poor performance”, despite having excellent service records and strong performance evaluations.
“In firing these veterans who were federal employees, they got notices claiming that they were fired for, quote, poor performance, when in fact, so many have gotten recent reviews and evaluations with glowing performance reports. So this was just a big lie.”
Some experts told CBS News that contrary to Mr. Trump’s statements, the federal workforce has seen little growth since 1980, with agencies like the FAA suffering from ongoing staffing shortages.
How many veterans have lost their jobs?
Senator Van Hollen said that an estimated “6,000 veterans across the country have lost their jobs” to date. Many of those 6,000 employees are receiving offers to get their jobs back after intervention from the Supreme Court.
Earlier this month, the Veterans Affairs Department said it plans to cut more than 70,000 workers, returning the size of the agency to just under 400,000 employees as it was in 2019.
Veterans fearful of reduced services
Critics say that firing thousands of VA employees will have devastating impacts on veterans, potentially leading to longer wait times for medical care, slower processing of disability claims, and reduced access to the Veterans Crisis Line.
“They are talking about 80,000 people being laid off by the Department of Veterans Affairs. These are people all over the country who help process benefits. They work in veterans’ hospitals. So that would be a huge hit to the services that we provide to veterans as a country,” Van Hollen said.
Octavia Hayton, a Marine Corps veteran and former VA contractor, shared how she benefited from VA services and feared what would happen if those services were reduced.
“The VA has helped support me with education benefits. I was able to get health care. I was able to get mental health support. I don’t know where I would be without that support, genuinely,” Hayton said.
How have the layoffs impacted Maryland veterans?
Vincent Camacho, a recently terminated veteran, says he was recently terminated after serving 24 years in the military.
“How can my country now say, as I was told in my termination letter, ‘The agency finds, based on your performance, that you have not demonstrated that your further employment at the agency would be in the public interest’?” Camacho said.
Camacho added that he received an email saying he was reinstated to his position, but “placed on administrative leave pending further guidance.”
“I’m not even sure when I’ll be returning to work—or at this point if I’m even going to be returning to work,” Camacho explained.
Hayton said she experienced a sudden financial strain after she learned that her job was no longer going to be supported.
“About three weeks ago, I got my notice that my job was no longer going to be supported and the contract had been canceled. Fortunately, my husband is still employed, so we’re not without completely, but now he has more pressure on him,” Hayton said.
Hayton also said the layoffs add to the already difficult process of transitioning out of the military into civilian life.
“The transition out of the military is very, very difficult… The military, being a Marine, being an airman, being a soldier, whatever—it’s not a job. It’s your life. When you change your whole life to now fit into the civilian world, it presents so many challenges,” Hayton said.
Some veteran support organizations say they are overwhelmed by the sheer number of veterans seeking help.
“When you have groups that are meant to bolster the efforts of the VA getting to a point where they’re just taking on so many constituents that they’re now strained, it has an incredibly adverse impact on the veteran community,” Patrick Taylor, from the Baltimore County Executive’s Office noted.
Maryland leaders pushback against federal layoffs
In a hearing on March 13, Howard County Executive Calvin Ball said an estimated 30,000 federal workers in Maryland have been fired, eliminated, or resigned.
Earlier this month, Maryland joined a 19-state lawsuit over the Trump administration’s mass firings of federal probationary employees.
In the lawsuit, the attorneys general argued that federal agencies were required to follow “Reduction in Force” protocols, which include giving preference to military veterans and providing state governments with at least 60 days’ notice before laying off 50 or more employees.
After the lawsuit, two federal judges independently ordered the Trump administration to rehire the fired probationary employees.
Efforts to support veterans
With many veterans suddenly unemployed, Maryland’s Department of Veteran and Military Families (DVMF) is stepping in to provide job fairs, employment support, and resource guides.
We’ve been preparing resource guides and finding more information for veterans. We’re going out to outreach every day. We have two job fairs tomorrow,” Denise Nooe, the Deputy Director of the DVMF’s Communications and Outreach & Advocacy Program said.
Beyond government assistance, lawmakers are also pushing to expand support for veteran-owned businesses. Van Hollen pointed to past initiatives aimed at helping veterans transition into entrepreneurship, like the launch of the Veterans Institute for Procurement.
Maryland
Maryland family wants answers after boy with special needs breaks leg in class
HYATTSVILLE, Md. — The parents of a 7-year-old first grader with autism are demanding answers from Prince George’s County Public Schools after their son suffered a severe leg fracture while at school — an injury no one has been able to explain.
Daevian Donaldson, a student at Felegy Elementary School in Hyattsville, is recovering from surgery after his femur was snapped and displaced during class last Friday, according to his parents, Daechele Kaufman and Anthony Donaldson.
RELATED | Prince George’s schools faces $150 million budget realignment: Superintendent explains
Kaufman said the day began normally as she dropped Daevian and his twin brother off for first grade. Around 9 a.m., she received an alarming phone call from the school.
“They just said he was on the floor screaming and didn’t want anyone to touch him,” Kaufman said.
She rushed to the school and found her son with obvious trauma to his leg. Neither staff nor Daevian — who communicates differently because he is on the autism spectrum — could explain how the injury occurred, she said.
Doctors later confirmed the severity of the injury through X-rays.
“When I saw the X-ray and one of the nurses said he was going to need surgery, all these wheels started turning,” Kaufman said.
Daevian Donaldson, a student at Felegy Elementary School in Hyattsville, is recovering from surgery after his femur was snapped and displaced during class, according to his parents. (7News)
The parents said they later learned Daevian’s regular teacher was attending a meeting at the time, and the special-needs classroom was being supervised by a substitute. They said no clear explanation has been provided for how a child could suffer such a serious injury without staff noticing what happened.
“It’s definitely neglect,” Kaufman said. “You can’t turn away and come back and say, ‘Oh, you fell,’ for a major injury like that. That’s not acceptable.”
After the family raised concerns publicly, Prince George’s County Public Schools issued a statement saying the district is investigating the incident and has placed the staff member involved on administrative leave.
Anthony Donaldson said that response does not go far enough.
“It needs to be more than one person on administrative leave,” he said. “Several people need to be evaluated on how they’re trained, or they need to be fired.”
Daevian is continuing to recover after surgery but is still experiencing pain, his parents said. As the interview concluded, the 7-year-old quietly asked for his medication.
The family said they want accountability — and assurances that other children, especially those with special needs, will be kept safe.
Maryland
Man killed in Maryland barn fire believed to be ‘The Wire’ actor Bobby J. Brown
The St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office is reporting that a 62-year-old man died in a barn fire at his home in Chaptico, Md. It’s believed that the victim was actor Bobby J. Brown, who starred on “The Wire.”
Maryland
Maryland litigator convicted of tax evasion over income from high-stakes poker
MARYLAND (WBFF) — A prominent Supreme Court litigator who also published a popular blog about the nation’s highest court was convicted Wednesday of tax evasion and related charges stemming from his secretive lifestyle as an ultra-high-stakes poker player.
A federal jury found SCOTUSblog co-founder Thomas Goldstein guilty of 12 of 16 counts after a six-week trial in Greenbelt, Maryland. Jurors deliberated for approximately two days before convicting Goldstein of one count of tax evasion, four of eight counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns, four counts of willful failure to timely pay taxes, and three counts of false statements on loan applications.
Goldstein was charged with failing to pay taxes on millions of dollars in gambling income. Justice Department prosecutors also accused him of diverting money from his law firm to pay gambling debts and falsely deducting gambling debts as business expenses.
Goldstein argued more than 40 cases before the Supreme Court before retiring in 2023. He was part of the legal team that represented Democrat Al Gore in the Supreme Court litigation over the 2000 election ultimately won by Republican President George W. Bush.
Goldstein’s indictment a year ago sent shockwaves through the legal community in Washington, D.C. Many friends and colleagues didn’t know the extent of his gambling.
“He lied to everyone around him,” Justice Department prosecutor Sean Beaty said during the trial’s closing arguments.
Defense attorney Jonathan Kravis said the government rushed to judgment and failed to adequately investigate the case. Goldstein made “innocent mistakes” on his tax returns but didn’t cheat on his taxes or knowingly make false statements on his tax returns, Kravis told jurors.
“A mistake is not a crime,” he said.
Beaty described Goldstein as a “willful tax cheat.” Goldstein raked in approximately $50 million in poker winnings in 2016, including roughly $22 million that he won playing in Asia, according to Beaty. The prosecutor said the tax evasion scheme “fell apart” when another gambler, feeling cheated by Goldstein, notified the IRS about a 2016 debt owed to the attorney.
“It was a textbook tax-evasion scheme,” Beaty said. “And Mr. Goldstein executed that nearly flawlessly.”
The trial, which started Jan. 12, included testimony by “Spider-Man” star Tobey Maguire, an avid poker player who enlisted Goldstein’s help in recovering a gambling debt from a billionaire.
Goldstein, who testified in his own defense, denied any wrongdoing. He has said he repeatedly instructed his law firm’s staff and accountants to correctly characterize his personal expenses. In a 2014 email, he told a firm employee that “we always play completely by the rules.”
Goldstein also was accused of lying to IRS agents and hiding his gambling debts from his accountants, employees and mortgage lenders. He omitted a $15 million gambling debt from mortgage loan applications while looking for a new home in Washington, D.C., with his wife in 2021, his indictment alleges.
“He was thinking only of his wife when he left off the gambling debts,” Kravis said.
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