WASHINGTON-Although federal workers have job security and some of the best benefits in America, today the House Committee on Oversight and Reform held a remote hearing on Democrats’ proposal to dramatically expand paid leave for federal employees. Under their proposal, an employee who has worked for the government for at least three years would receive at a minimum 12 weeks paid leave for any reason under the Family Medical Leave Act, 20 vacation days, 11 paid holidays, and 13 sicks days annually-which amounts to four months off a year. Republicans blasted the proposal as unnecessary given the substantial benefits already provided to federal civil servants.
During the hearing, Republicans also called on Chairwoman Maloney to conduct committee business in-person and to hold hearings on issues facing the American people, including the border crisis, reopening America’s public schools, rampant unemployment fraud, and the massive leak of Americans’ sensitive tax information.
Ranking Member James Comer (R-Ky.) opened the hearing chastising Democrats for their distorted priorities.
“We’ve already dramatically expanded paid leave for the federal workforce. Today’s hearing to consider expanding paid leave even further for federal workers shows Democrats’ priorities are incredibly distorted. The American people are concerned about the ongoing border crisis, abuses of power in government, getting their kids back to school, and the rising cost of goods and services. We need to put the American people first - not the special interests of federal bureaucrats."
Subcommittee on Government Operations Ranking Member Jody Hice (R-Ga.) called out Democrats for allowing federal employees to work part-time while burdening the American taxpayers with the cost.
“Combined with federal holidays and annual leave, federal employees now only have to work eight months out of the year. Are you kidding me? This is absolute insanity, and this is what we’re told is leading by example. The majority does not know how much this benefit expansion will cost. I can tell you who is going to pay the cost: it’s going to be the American taxpayer... [H] ere in this Committee, it appears as if we are trying to create some sort of Gilligan’s Island so that we can insulate federal workers from the issues the rest of the world is facing."
Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) hit Democrats for their failure to admit how much their paid leave plan we’re costs.
“We’re having a hearing on paying federal workers four months to work. This is an insult to the taxpayer. It really is. Who is going to pay for this? We don’t even have a CBO score. You didn’t even have the courage to have a CBO score. $30 trillion in debt. Where’s the caring for our small businesses that are our lifeblood? I don’t need to tell anybody the federal government needs to be cut. People want to get the federal government out of our lives not more in our lives."
Rep. Michael Cloud (R-Texas) shed light on Democrats’ distorted view of the federal workforce.
“I appreciated the Chairwoman’s passion about the private sector and federal civilian workforce. If only the data backed it up, that would be something. [Data] from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis in 2018 said the federal civilian workforce had an average wage of over $84,000 where the average for the private sector was about $63,000. The notion that the federal workforce right now is lagging behind the private workforce-that is funding the federal workforce-just doesn’t stand up to the available data."
Subcommittee on Government Operations Jody Hice (R-Ga.) questioned witnesses about the severe costs to the federal government.
Hice: “Do you have any idea what type of estimate this type of thing might cost?"
Hadley Heath Manning, Director of Policy at the Independent Women’s Forum: “No... but it would come with some cost."
Hice: “Beyond the cost factor, there’s also this whole question assessing how you work your workforce. What is the impact that something like this would have on the workforce?... We’re talking [about] working eight months out of the year, so we’re talking four months of a gap... How could anyone deal with employees who are gone a third of the time?"
Hadley Heath Manning: “There’s a variety of downsides…"
Ranking Member Comer (R-Ky.) questioned Hadley Heath Manning, Director of Policy at the Independent Women’s Forum, about the consequences of the Democrats’ proposal.
Manning: “The Family Act, which is the leading proposal to establish a national comprehensive paid leave entitlement, comes with a very significant downside. And I appreciate lawmakers’ concern about low-income workers, but it would establish a regressive payroll tax that would cost low-income workers and families, and those are the folks who are least likely to benefit from programs like this... it’s a regressive policy that redistributes wealth from low-income people to upper- and middle-income families."
Ranking Member Comer concluded the hearing by calling out Democrats for a clear disconnect with reality and failing to address the urgent problems facing our country.
“The federal workforce needs to keep the taxpayer satisfied with the production and the way their taxpayer dollars are being spent... [Democrats] want to give federal workers more benefits. [Democrats] want to pay people not to work. It’s just a total disconnect, and it highlights the differences between what Republicans in the House are pushing for and fighting for."
“With all the problems in America right now, with all the hearings we have pleaded to have with the majority: We have a border crisis; We have a crime crisis in the big cities; We have inflation; We have credible evidence that shows-despite you all calling it conspiracy theories-that COVID started in Wuhan. You don’t want to have any hearings on that-nothing on that... We want to have bipartisan hearings."
