All eyes are on Texas as Republicans work to draw new congressional districts ahead of

26. But the battle for control of Congress runs through Southwest Washington, home to one of the

most competitive districts in the country. And that's where incumbent Marie Glucent-Camp

Perez has a new challenger. He's the Republican leader in the state Senate. Meet John Braun,

a moderate who could deliver the third district in the state Senate. Meet John Braun, a moderate who

could deliver the third district to the GOP this week on sound politics, wherever you get your

podcasts.

It's Friday. Hope your weekend starts soon. From the KUOW Newsroom, this is Seattle now. I'm Patricia

Murphy. Here's a roundup of today's top stories. It's Friday, February 21st.

Amid a surge of federal firings nationwide. In Washington State, 362 federal employees have filed

for unemployment since President Donald Trump took office. That's according to a report

from the State Employment Security Department. It's nearly 200 more people than it applied for

unemployment at this point last year. Emily Connor was a grant management specialist with the

Federal Transit Administration before last Friday. She says cuts may mean local transit agencies won't get federal grant money.

I really just don't know how people are going to be able to get the work done.

We never had any time at FTA to sit idle in any way, shape, or form.

And I just don't think that there's going to be any way that the people left are going to be able to pick up all of the work that had to be

dropped when this firing happened.

Other firings hit the Hanford Nuclear Cleanup site, the Bonneville Power Administration,

and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

To hear more, listen to this week's episode of Sound Politics, wherever you get your podcasts.

Music Sound Politics, wherever you get your podcasts. In news from Olympia, today marks the first cutoff deadline in Washington's legislature.

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