Local impacts
• Federal jobs: The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is eyeing the reduction of about 80,000 jobs across the department. A Dayton VA Medical Center employee who lost her job due to federal cuts told Dayton Daily News that she’s worried about how these job cuts will impact services to local veterans. Civilian workers at the Department of Defense, too, this week were required to explain in an email what they accomplished the week before.
• A WPAFB invitation: Ohio’s two U.S. senators invited Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to visit Wright-Patterson Air Force Base as Hegseth helps shape the Trump administration’s defense priorities. The invitation comes at a time when the Defense Department under Hegseth has said it will cut about 5,400 probationary employees as part of an “initial effort” to cut the department’s civilian workforce by 5% to 8%.
• National Parks: Staffing shortages have reduced the days of operation at key parts of the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park, and Trump’s federal hiring freeze means that personnel challenges are likely to persist.
• DOGE and Dayton properties: Lease renewals for several federal properties have been canceled as the Department of Government Efficiency continues axing public contracts under the General Services Administration and other departments. At least two of the local properties — a records storage facility in Butler County and an office space in Dayton — already had planned closures before DOGE was even created.
• “Buy American”: Workers at the Middletown Works steel plant will receive a $1,000 bonus from Cleveland Cliffs for buying or leasing an American-made vehicle with company-made steel this year. Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves is a huge fan of Trump’s steel tariffs.
• Springfield: During his address to Congress on Tuesday, Trump referenced immigration issues in Springfield, saying cities like Springfield had been “destroyed.” Springfield Mayor Rob Rue pushed back, saying misleading statements like that have been a major hardship for the city.
ICE: The Butler County Jail is again a detention facility for Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees, and immigration advocates have raised concerns about pending litigation that sprouted from the jail’s previous ICE contract. Sheriff Richard K. Jones this week confirmed the facility is housing ICE detainees, but wouldn’t say how many.
Local nonprofits: A Dayton nonprofit that assists immigrants and refugees lost access to nearly $250,000 in federal funding to support urban farming. Officials at Cross Over Community Development said the halt to funding pauses the training of bilingual peer facilitators on good farming practices to teach to others in their language communities.
DEI: NAACP leaders from across southwest Ohio met Thursday to hear community members' concerns about the Trump administration’s dismantling of programs and jobs linked to diversity, equity and inclusion. One note discussed by attendees? Trump’s plans to slash the Education Department.
Other federal updates:
What’s up with tariffs?: To Trump, “tariff” is more than “the most beautiful word in the dictionary.” But on Thursday, he said that he has postponed 25% tariffs on most goods from Mexico and some imports from Canada for a month.
Ukraine: After an explosive discussion with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Trump administration this week ordered a pause on U.S. military assistance and intelligence sharing with Kyiv.
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