Arizonans and Americans stand with the people of Ukraine in opposition to Russia's illegal war.

Unless you are wildly corrupt in mind, you will understand how offensive and dangerous this idea is to an open and free democracy.

We cannot lose sight again of those merit principles I keep talking about.

I do think that the CHCOs should be career employees and, if not the CHCOs, then at least the Deputy CHCOs.

A more effective and efficient Federal Government starts with a better Federal workforce.

As Congress is currently reviewing several different proposed bills, including one from Senator Carper called the Tim Hart Act, it appears much can be resolved within existing laws.

Thank you. With that, we have reached the end of today's hearing. I appreciate all of our witnesses for your time and testimony and thank our colleagues for their participation.

Even the National Commission on Military and Public Service, the brainchild of Senator John McCain of Arizona, spent significant time discussing how to fix Federal human resources regulations and statutes.

I do think that it would be extremely helpful if the CHCO Council was actually chaired by CHCOs.

If the CHCO Act was amended to provide more autonomy and provide CHCOs a larger voice in the development of regulations, would that alone be enough to reverse this backwards slide?

Political appointees serve at the pleasure of a President, but they are subject to the same accountability, transparency, and performance laws that apply to everyone else.

Over the years, Congress has heard from CHCOs about challenges communicating with OPM.

I am not against political appointees. I was one. But these jobs are wildly in violation of anything resembling anything merit-based.

I think your Chance to Compete Act that Chairwoman Sinema has put in place, or is working to get passed, is actually something that would be beneficial to us.

It is especially critical that Congress tackle the last part.

We recently passed my bipartisan Chance to Compete Act, which I partnered with Ranking Member Lankford to pass.

I strongly believe a woman's healthcare decisions should be between her, her doctor, and her family, which is why I voted to advance today's bill. If it advanced, I would have offered an amendment to remove editorial language that has no…

The threat of a biological event in the United States must be taken seriously, and we need to work together deliberately and in a bipartisan manner to ensure the safety of our communities.

Eliminating the 60-vote threshold will simply guarantee that we lose a critical tool that we need to safeguard our democracy from threats in the years to come.

What is the legislative filibuster, other than a tool that requires new federal policy to be broadly supported by senators representing a broader cross-section of Americans, a guardrail?

And while I continue to support these bills, I will not support separate actions that worsen the underlying disease of division infecting our country.

Eliminating the 60-vote threshold will simply guarantee that we lose a critical tool that we need to safeguard our democracy from threats in the years to come.

There`s no need for me to restate my longstanding support for the 60-vote threshold to pass legislation.

These bills help treat the symptoms of the disease, but they do not fully address the disease itself. And while I continue to support these bills, I will not support separate actions that worsen the underlying disease of division infecting…

These bills help treat the symptoms of the disease. But they do not fully address the disease itself.