Trump Hiring Freeze of Federal Employees: Local Lawmakers Oppose Edict

ALEXANDRIA, VA -- Congressman Don Beyer (D-8th), Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-11th) and Congresswoman Barbara Comstock (R-10th) all said Monday they do not support a hiring freeze on federal employees, announced Monday by President Donald Trump. The Northern Virginia area is home to thousands of federal employees.

Beyer, of Alexandria, released the following statement on the federal hiring freeze announced Monday by the administration:

“The Trump administration’s decision to further scapegoat the federal workforce by freezing hiring is ineffective and damaging,” said Rep. Don Beyer. “Like previous actions of Congressional Republicans, complaints of ineffective government are being met with a strategy which makes government even less effective. This cycle is intentional, and state and local economies across the country will suffer for it. Weakening the ability of the federal government to carry out its crucial mission is not how you put ‘America first.’”

85% of the nation’s civil service positions are based outside of the National Capital Region. The number of federal workers is at its lowest level since the 1960s, and over 30 percent will be eligible to retire in the next year. A report by the General Accounting Office (GAO) on previous federal hiring freezes stated such freezes are not an effective strategy for shrinking the size of the workforce, and only serve to disrupt agency operations and in the long-term increase the cost of government operations."

Fellow Northern Virginia Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-11th) also weighed in:

“An across-the-board federal hiring freeze is a mindless way to manage. It fails to differentiate critical from non-critical issues. It fails to take into account the need to actually beef up certain capabilities in the federal government, like cybersecurity. This Executive Order, coupled with many of other anti-federal workforce policies being proposed in Congress, will have a depressing effect on our ability to recruit and retain the next generation of federal workers. This is a far cry from President Kennedy's effort to inspire a new generation to enter public service.”

Republican Congresswoman Barbara Comstock (R-10th) is also against the freeze:

“While I am pleased that the hiring freeze does not include the military, public safety, and public health sectors of the federal government, the federal budget cannot be balanced on the backs of our federal workforce. I don’t support this type of across-the-board freeze and think it is better to look at priorities and areas where appropriate cuts can be made and where we can consolidate efforts or identify unnecessary costs that can be eliminated. As the General Accounting Office has previously reported, past hiring freezes in both Republican and Democrat administrations have cost the federal government money in the long-run because of staffing problems, or problems in recruiting or disruption of key government operations and required services to the American people. We will be monitoring and highlighting the results of this freeze and how it is impacting the mission of various agencies.”

PHOTO of Donald Trump courtesy of the White House