A Republican congressman from Virginia wants to make it easier to cut the pay or dismiss individual federal workers, which could have a big impact on the workforce in the D.C. area with all of its federal agencies.
Rep. Morgan Griffith of Roanoke wants to revive a rule to allow any member of congress to cut salaries or individual jobs almost despite civil service. It would help cut government waste and other spending, he said.
“It's beyond silly,” said Mike Causey of Federal News Radio. “I don't know how to comment."
Each federal job creates six private sector jobs, Causey said.
“We represent over 700,000 federal workers in virtually every zip code in the country,” said J. David Cox, president of the American Federation of Government Workers, the largest federal union.
If approved by the full Congress, the move would gut civil service and private sector jobs depending on them, Cox said.
“Federal employees as well as the American public needs to be on the telephones calling their members of Congress,” he said.
