Press Releases

Washington, D.C. (January 18, 2024) | Today, Rep. Barry Loudermilk (GA-11) released the following statement after multiple reports of a planned walk out this week by federal workers across nearly two dozen federal agencies, including the White House, the Pentagon, and the State Department, in protest of U.S. support for Israel:

“Federal workers who plan to walk off the job to protest our nation’s strong support for our ally Israel are abusing the trust of the American people and put more work on those who faithfully serve our country daily in a non-partisan and unbiased way. These individuals should be fired. However, under our current civil service employment system, firing someone, even for justifiable cause, is nearly impossible.

“Good government requires having high quality employees who are empowered to do their jobs and fulfill their constitutional duties responsibly. That’s why my MERIT Act, which I have been working on passing in Congress for several years, is a good place to start in reforming our outdated civil service system. MERIT would create a more efficient and effective government that works for the people by modeling employee dismissal with that of the private sector, and lessening the time it takes to root out misconduct and poor performance.”

MERIT ACT Summary:

• Addressing misconduct and poor performance: The MERIT Act repeals the Chapter 43 special process for acting against poor performers and bad actors, which is unnecessarily time-consuming, and streamlines the Chapter 75 process for removal or suspension of employees and supervisors. The MERIT Act also permits agencies to remove a senior executive from the civil service for performance reasons, rather than merely demoting the individual to a non-Senior Executive Service (SES) position.
• Poor Performing Senior Executives: Current law incentivizes agencies to merely demote poor performing senior executives, the MERIT Act allows agencies to remove a senior executive from the civil service. 
• Recoupment of bonuses and awards: The MERIT Act authorizes agencies to order repayment of bonuses and awards when performance or conduct issues are discovered and it is determined the bonus or award would not have been paid had these issues been known at the time. 
• Felonious service: The MERIT Act affects the retirement benefits of employees who are removed based on a felony conviction based on actions taken in furtherance of official duties. The period of service during which the felonious activities occurred will be eliminated for purposes of any annuity computation.

###