Maryland governor defends $190K Trump-centric consulting contract as president-elect moves in next door
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Maryland’s Democratic governor tapped one of the world’s largest risk-management firms for a short-term contract in preparation for Republican President-elect Trump moving in next door.
Gov. Wes Moore hired Accenture PLC, an Irish IT and consulting firm with an estimated $60 billion in revenue, to be its eyes and ears on Trump’s return to Washington, D.C.
Two days after Trump was projected to win, Maryland finalized its $190,000 contract.
Consultants at Accenture have been charged with analyzing how Trump and congressional Republicans will affect Maryland, including in terms of federal monies sent across the Anacostia River as the new administration signals a major belt-tightening.
The contract includes a section focused on identifying state "resources and efforts and consider potential avenues for legal challenges."
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It also seeks to track Trump’s agenda and his circle’s engagements with third-party groups like the Heritage Foundation, according to the Baltimore Sun.
Moore appeared to acknowledge there will be times Maryland’s interests run counter to the White House’s, but suggested his hiring of Accenture was not to create such an overtly adversarial relationship as critics have suggested.
A spokesman for Moore appeared to dismiss claims the governor is trying to set up a showdown, saying there are four tenets guiding him into a new Trump era: "Defend our constitutional rights, grow our economy, and restore faith in our public servants [and] our institutions, and our democracy."
"Governor Moore is ready to work with the incoming administration to ensure these goals are accomplished, and where there is common ground to be found, he will find it. Not only as a matter of principle – but as a responsibility to the people the Moore-Miller administration represents."
The spokesman said hiring a firm like Accenture is standard practice in business, and that with the "unique role" the federal government plays in Maryland’s economy, it is important to fully understand how best to work with Trump.
"With billions of dollars in potential liabilities for the state, it would be reckless of the Moore-Miller administration to not be prepared for any new policy directions taken by the federal government."
Like Virginia and the District of Columbia itself, Maryland is inextricably linked to the federal government, which also comprises just under 10% of the state’s workforce.
The Old Line State houses several federal agency headquarters. NASA’s Goddard Space Center boasts its own private exit off the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, the NIH campus sits in Bethesda and the FDA calls Silver Spring home.
Geographically, what remains of the original federal district is also entirely former Maryland territory – as Arlington and Alexandria retroceded to Virginia in 1847.
Fox News Digital reached out for comment from state House Minority Leader Jason Buckel, R-Cumberland.
Buckel told Maryland Matters that the contract is "not in the best interests of any Marylander, particularly under the unified control of our federal government by Republicans," and suggested the contract is ill-timed given Maryland's reported billion-dollar deficit.
D.C. and Virginia have also keyed into sweeping changes the Trump administration could bring to the region.
District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser has requested a meeting with Trump, according to FOX5DC, while Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin was – unlike the other two leaders – a prominent Trump backer with few apparent concerns.
Leaders in DC, Maryland, Virginia prepare for Trump transition
Maryland and Virginia are gearing up to welcome in a new administration to Washington.
"I look forward to having the wind at our backs as opposed to in our faces about everything that we’re doing because we’ve gone from the bottom of job growth to near the top of the country," Youngkin said.
However, in Fairfax County, which, like Maryland’s Prince Georges and Montgomery counties, is home to a high proportion of federal workers, the top municipal leader warned of repercussions.
Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeffrey McKay told FOX5DC that Fairfax must "prepare to address the potential impacts of the new administration."
He said a second Trump term poses a "risk" and noted Trump has a stated goal of "dismantling government bureaucracy."
A representative for Accenture referred Fox News Digital back to Moore's office.