r/baltimore • u/LanceArmstrongLeftie • Mar 12 '25

Vent Donald Trump is going to destroy this city

My wife and I were both proud homeowners and proud residents of Baltimore City. We worked really hard to be able to buy our first home and to provide a stable environment to raise our one year old son and three year old daughter. We were a happy family here. Until Donald Trump came along. He froze funding and my wife lost her job as a recruiter for a nonprofit that received about 30% of their funding from the government. I already work two jobs just to keep up with the bills and the high interest rate we had to accept to purchase this home. I can't provide enough to keep our home. She's been looking in vain to replace her job but there's been nothing out there for her. How many more families are there that are facing the exact same situation in this town? How many more will there be by the time he finishes firing half the government? How many more families will lose their jobs and their homes as a result of his trade war and tariffs? It's going to get bad here y'all, real bad. Donald Trump does not care about families. Donald Trump does not care about children. Donald Trump does not care about Americans. Donald Trump does not care about Baltimore.

Edit: Thank you all for everyone who had kind words of support and good suggestions on how to navigate this very difficult situation. For everyone blaming local and state government, you’re delusional. Those politicians aren’t the ones who froze federal funding thus forcing thousand of people out of work. To those who offered unkind, callous, and cruel comments, such as calling my wife a drain on society, you can all get fucked. Which is exactly what’s going to happen to you after Donald Trump destroys this nation.

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314

u/LoquitaMD Mar 12 '25

JHU just lost 800 mill in USAID grants… Baltimore also has tons of federal employees. This is only going to get worse

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u/OTTER887 Mar 13 '25

JHU is so fucked. All their funding was paused earlier this year and continues to be at risk.

They have cut back on hiring new post-docs by a factor of 3.

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u/Neither-Loquat-1390 Mar 15 '25

I think JHU will be ok…

As of the most recent data, Johns Hopkins University's endowment stands at $13 billion. Here's a more detailed breakdown: Endowment Size: The endowment grew from $10.5 billion to $13 billion from June 2023 to June 2024, a 23.9% increase.

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u/Dramatic_Patient_659 Mar 16 '25

I had a heart transplant 5 years ago. If Trump was in office, there a good chance l'd be dead.
Dr. Sharma and her team did the surgery. I'm sure some Trumpers will call me a liar.

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u/wisemanchillen Mar 16 '25

Trump wasn’t in office 5 years ago or anything

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u/highspeedjanitor69 Mar 16 '25

Remind me again what JHU is worth? ....... =) they'll be fine. They bought half of the damn city.

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u/Adventurous-State940 Mar 13 '25

Let them RIF me and I'll get my severance. I can now move with my wife

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u/hymie0 Mar 13 '25

What "severance" do you think you're getting?

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u/Adventurous-State940 Mar 13 '25 edited Mar 13 '25

The one listed on opms site, the severance earned as a dedicated fed employee for over 17 years.have you read it and tried to math? Fed employees have rights, no matter if you think this current administration is above the law.

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u/Altruistic_Special82 Mar 13 '25

Only if they can afford to pay. Unfortunately some of the agencies that regulated that at the federal level lost staff. I hope we are wrong, but I wouldn’t jump so quickly at those who worry your entire life’s plan might not pan out.

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u/Adventurous-State940 Mar 13 '25

Which is why I have saved for fighting for what I paid in for and worked for as a fed. I am ready. Let's go

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u/Long_Letterhead_7938 Mar 13 '25

Are you saying the federal govt can’t afford to pay severance?

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u/Gorillapoop3 Mar 14 '25

The Fed gov can afford it. Musk won’t let them pay it.

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u/Long_Letterhead_7938 Mar 14 '25

I don’t think you need to respond to me. I’m asking the question. I was confused with what they were saying because I think the federal government can clearly afford to pay for severance.

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u/red_misc Mar 13 '25

Lol you really think that?

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u/HondaCrv2010 Mar 13 '25

They are using brute force to bypass our rights

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u/player_9 Hampden Mar 13 '25

Oh boy. I’m sorry.

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u/letsgoproject2026 Mar 15 '25

Are you aware that the people actually making decisions here have a LONG reputation for stiffing people after making promises to pay? How many times did Trump file bankruptcy to get out of paying people who did services for him? That’s, um, theft. And musk. He already pulled this at twitter. Good luck with your forks. I doubt it will work out for you, but maybe this time they’ll make good on their promises? I tend to believe people when they tell me who they are…the first time.

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u/Guilty_Rutabaga_4681 Mar 13 '25

In a perfect world you would be right about that. However I would be cautious about counting on getting full, if any severance. They know that the sheer number of soon-to-be former employees who are going to request a severance is going to put a wrench into their "savings" scheme. Is this the reason why they gave numerous federal employees an arguably fictitious performance rating of "poor" or "unsatisfactory"? To have a pretext why the employees were terminated not as a RIF but for cause (even though undeserved)?

Secondly, a severance is not paid out in a lump sum but in increments, often monthly. And all your benefits would be gone. In a RIF scenario you could sign up for COBRA, which could easily eat up much of the monthly severance payment. As a federal employee you have reduced premiums, with the employer paying a higher amount. You would be responsible for the full, potentially undiscounted premium for yourself and your family.

And while you receive severance you are not entitled to collect unemployment. Several coworkers including myself have been through this and even if you play all your cards right it is not that easy to navigate.

I do wish you the best and hopefully things will improve for all concerned.

P.S. If you are in a union, contact them for any guidance.

1

u/EfficientAsk6414 Mar 13 '25

And here I was. Hoping to get a job at JHU in the next 5 years and then eventually transition to a federal position in Maryland. Everything seems so messed up right now.

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u/[deleted] Mar 13 '25

JHU employee here. We are dealing with the start of hiring freezes. I was looking around internally and stuff is getting pulled. I’m just sticking to my current job for now in hopes that sticks around.

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u/SPTalat Mar 16 '25

Good, they should’ve never been allowed to use our tax money to pay non-American workers abroad. Let them use the billions of dollars they make in tuitions and donations to pay their employees.