More local federal-level jobs, including ones at the Rock Island Arsenal, could face Elon Musk’s so-called chainsaw for bureaucracy. Capitol Hill movements and developments have reached Illinois and Iowa, affecting offices and bureaus on both sides of the Mississippi River. Musk, a special government employee appointed by President Trump, might be taking a backseat to his work overseeing the Department of Government Efficiency—better known as DOGE—but that doesn’t mean the billionaire’s governmental reach won’t disappear from the Quad Cities.
National labor leaders held a hearing at Davenport’s Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds Tuesday, April 22, to offer a platform for local workers and their representatives to express their opinions concerning the latest with the Trump administration. Vice president of the local 2119 chapter of the American Federation of Government Employees, or AFGE, Chad Finch, revealed to a crowd of hundreds details about one of the area’s most recognizable historical landmarks.
“So I do constantly talk to our legislators. I just want you to know they’re on the verge of losing 400 jobs over at the Rock Island Arsenal due to the cuts. They’re still working out the details now. I’m getting new numbers coming in every day,” Finch said.
The Rock Island Arsenal, which employs over 6,000, isn’t the only place that could face more losses. According to Finch, several individuals have walked away from their roles at Rock Island’s Social Security Administration office on 4th Avenue.
“I’ve talked to some brothers and sisters at the Social Security office here in Rock Island. They’ve had four or five people quit because of the harassment of the five-things-you-did-last-week, because of the constant threat of rifts—just the treatment by the management staff,” Finch said.
Finch went on to add that the collective-bargaining rights of Transportation Security Administration, or TSA, officers, who operate checkpoints at airports nationwide, have been stripped. He posited his own theories pertaining to the White House’s true intentions with their approach to purging the federal government’s workforce.
“Make no mistake—this is the privatization of our federal government. Let’s break it, show people it doesn’t work, and let’s privatize it; make as much money as they can,” Finch said.
Charlie Wishman, president of the Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, told the event’s attendees shortly after Finch’s statements that government employees in other parts of Iowa have also witnessed puzzling staffing alterations.
“A group of AFGE members who worked at the VA in Des Moines said that one of the first things DOGE cut was the contractor that comes in and makes sure that the radiation levels are right for MRIs and CAT scans for veterans,” Wishman said.
Though state-level lawmakers were informed about Tuesday’s hearing, almost none showed. Iowa State Senator Zach Wahls made an appearance, teasing the idea of running in 2026 against fellow Iowan and U.S. Senator Joni Ernst.
Iowa State Representative Daniel Gosa, who represents Davenport, spoke about his efforts to have Senator Ernst and U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, who represents Iowa’s first congressional district, at Tuesday’s hearing, yet neither politician attended.
“We emailed and certified-mailed to Senator Ernst’s office, but they replied back that she was busy,” Gosa said. “I was just up at the Capitol last week, and guess who was there? Miller-Meeks. I went over and personally invited her. I did have a flyer on me, and I handed it to her, but guess what? She stood right there and took a g— picture with me.”
Rep. Miller-Meeks, a 24-year veteran, released Thursday, April 24, a letter urging U.S. Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll to protect many of the jobs at the Rock Island Arsenal. The AFL-CIO’s Department of People Who Work for a Living will continue hosting forums in nearby states in the coming weeks.
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