Political Quotes

“The Trump administration is currently threatening Congress with the furlough of 150 employees at the Office of Personnel Management unless we, the Congress, acquiesce to the administration's so-called plan to abolish OPM altogether and give the Trump White House control of governmentwide Federal employee policies. My amendment would put an end to the administration's plan to use the careers of 150 loyal civil servants as bargaining chips for the proposal to abolish OPM altogether. This proposal lacks merit, justification, or even a coherent rationale. And you don't have to take my word for it. The Government Accountability Office has testified that OPM's leaders ``have not established outcome-oriented goals, developed a cost-benefit analysis or implementation plans, and have not fully involved or communicated their efforts with the Congress, employees, and other key stakeholders.'' Both Republicans and Democrats have expressed similar skepticism about this plan here in the House and in the other body. My Republican counterpart in the Senate, Chairman James Lankford, has said: It is hard to get to the determination of how this makes anything better, meaning the proposal. The Federal Government's most essential resource is its 2.6 million employees, who comprise the most professional, nonpartisan civil service in the world. Developing and enforcing the policies to protect them from political interference has been the task of the independent agency OPM.…”