President Trump marked his 8th week in office by gutting the Department of Education, laying off more than a thousand workers and investigating schools over diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Maryland, a hub for research and home to thousands of federal workers, is already seeing the effects of the administration’s directives.

We’re here to help you understand what went down recently and how it may impact Maryland.

U.S. government still open

Congress passed a continuing resolution hours before the midnight deadline. The federal government can now pay its bills through September, the end of its fiscal year.

A handful of Senate Democrats, including minority leader Sen. Charles Schumer of New York, voted with Republicans for a resolution that would keep the government open but give the Trump administration certain authority over spending.

Maryland Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks voted against the bill. Alsobrooks said in a statement ahead of the vote that support for the bill would mean supporting Trump’s agenda.

“To allow the President to continue what he’s doing would be in direct contradiction with my mandate — to fight for Marylanders,” she said.

Van Hollen said in a statement that he didn’t want to shutdown the government and would have rather passed “a clean, short-term continuing resolution that allowed for more time to reach a bipartisan agreement.”

The House of Representatives approved the measure earlier this week. Rep. Andy Harris, the state’s sole Republican, was the only member of Maryland’s federal delegation to vote for it.

“Conservatives are united, winning, and ready to deliver on President Trump’s agenda like never before,” Harris said in a social media post Friday evening.

Back in Annapolis, state lawmakers grappling with a $3 billion budget gap said Friday they’re continuing to pore over the federal bill to see what it may mean for their bottom line.

The General Assembly must pass a balanced budget before the end of the legislative session and the swift and unpredictable changes at the federal level add further complications.

Maryland heavily relies on the federal government as a major employer and funding source for state programs. Senate President Bill Ferguson called it the “most uncertain” lawmaking period he’s seen in all of his 15 years in the legislature.

FBI might not be moving to Maryland

Trump said on Friday he was going to keep the Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters in Washington, D.C., saying building the office in the “liberal state” of Maryland would make it difficult for the agency to work with the Department of Justice.

The FBI headquarters has been subject of debate for more than a decade, with some calling for the bureau to stay in D.C., and others suggesting a move to Virginia or Maryland. In 2023, the U.S. General Services Administration chose Greenbelt as the site for the headquarters.

Virginia politicians at the time called for an investigation, questioning whether there had been a conflict of interest. A federal watchdog found some flaws in the process, but did not recommend it be overturned.

There was a lot going on with the Education Department in the last few days.

Earlier this week, the agency announced its plans to lay off more than 1,300 employees as part of a downsizing initiative of the federal government. Maryland is already challenging the move in court, along with other Democratic-led states, saying the firings would cause an “illegal dismantling of the department,” according to the Associated Press.

The department also sent letters to 60 higher education institutions, including The Johns Hopkins University, warning universities they could lose federal funding if they failed to make campuses safe for Jewish students.

And on Friday, the department announced it would be investigating more than 50 universities, including Towson University, for alleged racial discrimination. The move is part of Trump’s campaign to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

Weeks after Trump claimed military academies have been “infiltrated by Woke Leftist Ideologues,“ Trump announced he was appointing his former press secretary Sean Spicer to the U.S. Naval Academy’s Board of Visitors.

Federal workers temporarily reinstated

A federal judge in Maryland reinstated the jobs of thousands of probationary federal employees late Thursday, forcing the government to take back the employees for the immediate future.

Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown is leading the case, which was filed by several Democratic attorneys general.

The order covers probationary employees who were fired from several agencies, including the departments of Education, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Veterans Affairs, and USAID.

A federal judge in California also ordered six agencies to rehire probationary employees.

The Trump administration offered most of the 80,000 federal workers in the Health and Human Services Department to leave their job for as much as $25,000.

County and state officials in Maryland are organizing to support federal workers. If you are a federal worker who lost your job, here’s what you should know.

Cuts in federal funding hits Johns Hopkins University groups

Two global aid groups based in Baltimore and affiliated with Johns Hopkins University started laying off staff due to federal funding cuts.

Jhpiego, the Center for Communication Programs and the Hopkins School of Medicine will layoff 1,975 people in 44 countries and 247 in the United States, making it the largest job cut in university history.

Trump’s tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum went into effect

Trump issued 25% tariffs on metal imports from all countries that sell steel and aluminum, according to The New York Times. Anticipation of cost spikes sent global financial markets on a roller coaster ride. Manufacturers of metal-containing products, such as cars, cans and solar panels, expect source materials may be more scarce.

And depending on how Trump proceeds on April 2, which is when taxes on auto parts are supposed to take effect, your car insurance rates might increase, too.

More on Trump’s impact in Maryland and beyond:

• ‘It’s scary right now’: ICE holds detainees for days in bedless Baltimore cells (The Baltimore Banner)
• E.P.A. cancels climate grants, intensifying battle over $20 billion (The New York Times)
• Maryland hospital budgets appear to dodge federal cost cutting — for now (The Baltimore Banner)
• Maryland wants to address racial disparities in its prison system. Will Trump interfere? (The Baltimore Banner)