U.S. Rep. Eugene Vindman (D-7th District) did not mince words when he stepped to the podium to speak at the Caroline County NAACP Black History Month celebration Monday night.
“We have our work cut out for us right now,” Vindman said.
The congressman, who was sworn in for his first term just last month after defeating Republican Derrick Anderson in November, was referring to the challenges presented by President Donald Trump and his administration, which is dismantling Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies, enforcing mass deportations and considering shutting down the Department of Education, among a litany of other policies that have alarmed minorities and their allies.
“Forty-seven is not playing,” Caroline NAACP President Reuben Rock said, referring to Trump. “The things that are going on in our communities are going to drive us to [prayer]. Poor people are going to suffer. We’re going to have to stand united.”
Vindman said citizens concerned about the direction of the country are not helpless, despite Republican majorities in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives and a conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court.
While Rock urged attendees to get involved locally with the NAACP, their school board and board of supervisors, Vindman wanted to remind his constituents to “make your voice heard” by addressing him, federal agencies — and even the White House.
“I get the sense that people are feeling a new sense of purpose, of energy,” Vindman said. “There is an undercurrent now. We’re starting to see it in every community around the district, around the country. We see hints of it on social media.
“People may have felt some resignation after the election, maybe they weren’t motivated to vote. But now they see what the stakes are and they’re getting mobilized and motivated. That’s the kind of pressure this administration responds to, and we’ve seen them backpedaling already.”
The “backpedaling” Vindman referred to is guidance from the Office of Personnel Management last week to exempt spouses of active-duty U.S. military personnel employed by federal agencies from the Trump administration’s return-to-work policy.
The shift came after a bipartisan House bill introduced by Vindman and U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman (R-1st District) to exempt active-duty military spouses from the return-to-office mandate.
“That bill, once I introduced it on the hill with bipartisan support, there were letters that followed, pressure that followed and that forced the administration to backpedal,” Vindman said.
Vindman noted that foreign service officer spouses are now also exempt from the return-to-office order.
“It affects thousands of families around the country and around the world,” Vindman said. “But it’s a first step.”
Vindman said he would also like to see constituents rally to support the rest of the federal workforce, which is under fire from the Trump administration and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the advisory agency that’s recommending major cuts to the workforce.
Thousands of probationary workers in various agencies were dismissed last week, with the government citing performance issues to justify the Reduction in Force (RIF). The mass terminations followed the deadline for federal employees to accept a buyout, called a deferred resignation, that would’ve allowed them to be paid through the end of September.
“It’s important that we stand up for Virginians, for our economy, for our communities and for our civil servants, the tens of thousands that live in the 7th Congressional District and the many thousands of contractors,” Vindman said. “We’re talking about the national security of this country and we’re talking about critical jobs, hard-working civil servants, people dedicated to the community and the constitution. We need to defend them like they have defended us.”
