Washington D.C. -Today, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, the Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, led all 18 Democratic Members of the Committee in sending a letter to Chairman Trey Gowdy requesting hearings on the actions of the Trump Administration in restricting the hiring of federal employees across multiple federal agencies-without the approval of Congress-and the detrimental effects that massive staffing shortages are having on national security, environmental safety, and health and wellness.
As part of this review, the Democrats also requested that the Committee obtain copies of agency downsizing reports that were due to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) last week.
“The degradation of the federal workforce-particularly among those who dedicate their lives to protecting our national security, our environmental safety, and our health and wellness-should not occur in darkness," the Democrats wrote. “If Trump Administration officials truly believe their policies will make our nation safer, make our air and water cleaner, and make American families healthier, they should prove it in the full light of day. They should submit their plans to Congress, they should testify under oath, and they should answer questions from Members of our Committee."
In today’s letter, the Members focused on the detrimental effects of hiring freezes and massive staffing shortfalls at three agencies-the State Department, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Health and Human Services.
President Trump directed OMB Director Mick Mulvaney and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management to “recommend a long-term plan to reduce the size of the Federal Government’s workforce through attrition." On April 12, Mulvaney directed agencies to take “immediate actions" to reduce staff and to submit “Reorganization Plans" by the end of September 2017.
“Our Committee has jurisdiction over both the federal workforce and proposed agency reorganizations, and the Trump Administration is now in the midst of one of the largest reorganizations in decades with virtually no oversight by Congress," the Democrats wrote. “As Members of this Committee, we believe it is our job to analyze the Trump Administration’s plans to determine if, and to what extent, these massive reductions in staffing will impact the services the American people rely on every single day."
