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USAID takeover is unconstitutional, lawmakers say

February 3, 2025 Takeover, USAID, Lawmakers, unconstitutional0 comment

The Trump administration’s move to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development is illegal and unconstitutional, a group of House and Senate Democrats told a large crowd of people protesting outside of the organization’s headquarters on Monday in Washington, D.C. “USAID was established by an act of Congress, and it can only be disbanded by an act of Congress,” said Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.). USAID personnel at the agency’s Washington headquarters were instructed overnight not to come into the office and to work remotely, except for employees with essential on-site…

Unions, lawmakers urge federal employees to be cautious, stay in their jobs

January 30, 2025 Their, Lawmakers, federal, employees, stay, cautious, unions, Jobs, urge0 comment

Democratic lawmakers, as well as many federal unions and organizations, are urging federal employees to exercise extreme caution in response to the Trump administration’s request for voluntary resignations from the career federal workforce. Many organizations, including the National Treasury Employees Union, are encouraging federal employees to remain in their jobs and reject the Trump administration’s offer of what it called a “deferred resignation program” to the majority of the roughly 2.2 million career federal employees. “The so-called ‘deal’ is a hostile effort to disparage federal employees, weaken agencies and disrupt…

‘It’s the Right Thing’: GOP Lawmakers React to Trump’s Pardon of Jan. 6 ‘Political Prisoners’

January 22, 2025 Lawmakers, right, thing, It's, prisoners, pardon, trumps, Jan., Political, react0 comment

President Donald Trump kicked off his second term this week by pardoning the more than 1,500 Americans charged with crimes in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol protest. Pardoning the Jan. 6 prisoners is “another promise made, promise kept from the president,” Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., told The Daily Signal. “It is shameful right now to see that there are still people that, four years later, have not had a fair trial, have not had a trial at all,” he said. All Americans have a constitutional right to…

Lawmakers push for probe into Pentagon’s telecom security failures after historic cyberattack

December 5, 2024 probe, into, Push, historic, Cyberattack, Pentagon's, failures, telecom, after, security, Lawmakers0 comment

In the wake of what some lawmakers are calling the worst telecom attack in the nation’s history, two senators are calling for an investigation into whether the Defense Department could use its purchasing power to better secure telephone communications from foreign spies. In a Wednesday letter to DoD Inspector General Robert Storch, Sens. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), said the Pentagon, despite being one of the largest buyers of wireless telephone services in the country, has failed to leverage its significant purchasing power to require better cybersecurity practices…

House lawmakers advance bills on acquisition security, IT procurement

September 20, 2024 House, Lawmakers, bills, advance, acquisition, procurement, security0 comment

House lawmakers have advanced a raft of bills aimed at bolstering supply chain security efforts, streamlining technology purchases and increasing cross-agency sharing of software code. The House Oversight and Accountability Committee on Wednesday advanced 13 bills to the full House floor. Among them was the unanimously passed “Federal Acquisition Security Council Improvement Act,” which would bolster the council’s ability to ban products from federal supply chains. The council was created as part of the SECURE Technology Act of 2018. It currently has the authority to issue recommendations for removing or…

House lawmakers push for EEOC to defend furlough threat

August 27, 2024 House, Lawmakers, Push, Threat, defend, EEOC, furlough0 comment

Two House lawmakers are pushing the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to explain why it almost had to furlough almost all of its employees and are accusing agency leadership of “severe mismanagement.” Reps. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), the chairwoman of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.), the chairman of the committee’s workforce protections subcommittee, wrote to EEOC Chairwoman Charlotte Burroughs seeking documents and answers to questions about the decision to first issue the possible furlough notice and then to rescind it. They called the threat of the…