Thousands of people seeking answers about the recent federal job cuts tuned into a virtual town hall with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore on Monday night.

At its peak, over 5,000 people were listening in, asking questions and voicing their concerns. Among them, some asked about what programs were available to support contractors? How they can still sustain the state’s economy? And what can they, as Marylanders, do to “fight back?”

Gov. Moore told those listening that he’s sympathetic to what they’re going through, adding, “You deserve better.”

He outlined some of the programs that can be found online to help people who have lost jobs and announced a new initiative.

“Maryland is officially partnering with the nonprofit organization Work For America, to help us recruit and retain public servants who want to work in state government,” he said.

Moore also told attendees that there is hope, but people need to mobilize.

“That’s exactly what we’re doing here in Maryland. So, we cannot control the actions of this White House, but we can control how we respond,” he said.

Moore also said the state will continue to put pressure on the federal government to follow through on the commitment to build a new FBI headquarters in Greenbelt.

“On every single basis, this has been a long, transparent process that Greenbelt won this competition for the new FBI building and we are ready to go,” Moore said regarding reaching out to members of Congress.

President Donald Trump recently said he would stop the move to Greenbelt and instead build a new FBI headquarters in D.C.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser seemingly agreed with the president, saying the new headquarters would “create a nexus with the rest of our vision for the downtown.”

On Friday, Moore and the Maryland’s Democratic lawmakers in Congress released a joint statement, vowing to continue fighting for the headquarters to be built in Greenbelt.

“The GSA selected Greenbelt for the new, consolidated FBI headquarters because it is the best site, offering the lowest price and the best value to taxpayers,” they said. “We will continue working to bring the headquarters to Maryland.”

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Maryland Gov. Wes Moore addressed during Sunday’s “Face the Nation” how the Trump administration’s policies are impacting the state.

The governor talked about tariffs and their impact on Maryland, the president’s stance on the FBI headquarters relocation to Maryland plan, and the mass layoffs of federal workers by the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.

Tariffs and impact on Port of Baltimore

The Trump administration last week increased tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports to 25%, which has raised fears about the economy’s impact, including in Maryland and at the Port of Baltimore.

The Port of Baltimore is one of the largest and busiest U.S. ports and the largest for roll-on/roll-off vehicles.

“We are already seeing the impacts of these disastrous, and frankly, not very well thought-out policies when it comes to tariffs,” Gov. Moore told CBS News’ Margaret Brennan.

The Port of Baltimore supports thousands of local jobs and brings in billions of dollars worth of goods, especially car parts and produce, according to Maryland economists.

According to the state of Maryland, in 2024, the Port of Baltimore handled 45.9 million tons of international cargo valued at $62.2 billion. Nationally, Baltimore ranks 10th for tonnage of international cargo and 11th for total dollar value, the state reports.

And, with 25% tariffs to be imposed on Canada and Mexico starting April 2, Moore says costs on imported goods could skyrocket.

“We are already seeing how this is going to have a significant on the Port of Baltimore,” Moore said. “This erratic behavior is the thing people were concerned about and we are now seeing it in real-time in our states.”

D.C. or Maryland? FBI headquarters debate

Last week, President Trump vowed to stop to relocation of the FBI headquarters from Washington, D.C. to Maryland. Mr. Trump said the administration was “not going to let” the headquarters from being built “three hours away in Maryland, a liberal state.”

“But we’re going to stop it, not going to let that happen,” the president continued. “We’re going to build another big FBI building right where it is, which would have been the right place because the FBI and the DOJ [Department of Justice] have to be near each other.” 

In November 2023, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) selected a site in Greenbelt, Maryland, to serve as the new location for the FBI headquarters, following a 15-year debate on whether the headquarters should be relocated to Maryland or Virginia. 

Moore said he learned of Mr. Trump’s announcement through the media, rather than from a White House representative. The governor said the already-built facility would save the nation billions.

“By talking about putting it anywhere else, you are talking about adding over a billion dollars in cost to the American taxpayer than what we have already got through with the GSA, the General Service Administration, for the state of Maryland,” Moore said. “The building is ready to go in the state of Maryland but the president has just decided to politicize it, by saying he doesn’t want it to go to a liberal state. We can not continue to politicize national security. “

The GSA determined that the Greenbelt location is the best site because it was the lowest cost to taxpayers, provided the greatest transportation access to FBI employees and visitors, and gave the government the most certainty on project delivery schedule.”

GSA officials said the 61-acre site in Prince George’s County was chosen because it scored higher in several criteria. Moore said the headquarters would provide more than 7,500 jobs and would generate more than $4 billion.

“This is a direct attack and direct assault on law enforcement, a direct attack on the FBI because Maryland is the place, and we went through these processes for the past decade,” Moore said. “Maryland won this element, this competition where we showed we have the only build-ready site, that we are a place where we have national security assets that they could leverage, particularly when you are talking about the future mission of the FBI.”

Suing over Department of Education cuts

Last week, Maryland joined a lawsuit with about two dozen states to prevent the Trump administration from eliminating half of the Department of Education’s workforce.

The federal agency recently let go of more than 1,300 employees.

According to CBS News, the lawsuit claims the layoffs are unconstitutional and asks the court to stop the Trump administration’s effort to dismantle the department. 

“When you look at the fury of executive actions and executive orders that have been laid out by this administration so far, they really fall within three different categories. It’s either ineffective, it is performative or it is illegal,” Moore said. “The ones that are illegal, we are going to take legal action to make sure there are legal consequences for making these decisions that, frankly, the President of the United States does not have the authority to make unilaterally.”

Maryland is joined in the suit by Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, Wisconsin, Vermont and the District of Columbia.

“Working with our attorney general closely to be able to file suit when the federal government oversteps its bounds is one tool, but we are going to use every tool at our disposal to make sure the people of Maryland are protected, and we are making sure to put extra resources and money back into their pockets.”