Federal Employees

Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA) and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today sent a letter to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Chair Victoria Lipnic expressing “serious concerns” about unattainable performance standards as well as a new pilot program. Norton, a former chair of the EEOC, and Connolly said that high quotas could prevent administrative judges “from spending the necessary time to find discrimination” when warranted by the evidence, thus denying due p... Read more

Today, members of the National Capital Region Congressional Delegation sent a letter to Russell Vought, the Acting Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and Margaret M. Weichert, the Acting Director of the Office of Personnel Management, seeking answers on the Trump administration’s slow implementation of the enacted 1.9 percent pay increase for federal employees for 2019. The pay increase was included in legislation that funds the federal government through September 30, and was sign... Read more

Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, the Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and Rep. Gerry Connolly, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Government Operations, issued the following statements after the House passed legislation to prevent the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) from having no members when the current and sole Board member’s term expires on March 1, 2019. H.R. 1235, the MSPB Temporary Term Extension Act, as amended, would provide a one-time, one-year extension of the current... Read more

Representatives Gerald E. Connolly (D-VA) and Jackie R. Walorski (R-IN) have reintroduced the Federal Firefighter Pay Equity Act, bipartisan legislation to ensure federal firefighters are eligible for the same full and fair retirement benefits as their state and local counterparts. Every day, more than 15,000 federal firefighters put their lives at risk to protect our nation’s most critical assets – including the families, homes, and infrastructure on military installations across the country. Y... Read more

Today, Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA), the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Government Operations, introduced the Equal COLA Act. The legislation aims to bring equity to the way the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) is determined under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). In January, CSRS employees received 2.8 percent, however, FERS employees only received a 2.0 percent increase. This unfair treatment in retirement benefits is due to legisl... Read more

Today, Representatives Gerald E. Connolly (D-VA), Peter King (R-NY), and Jim Langevin (D-RI) introduced the First Responder Fair RETIRE Act, bipartisan legislation to ensure federal firefighters, law enforcement officials, Border Patrol officers, and other federal first responders qualify for full retirement benefits if they are injured on the job. Given the hazardous nature the job required of Federal first responders, Congress created an accelerated retirement system for these positions and es... Read more

Today, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, the Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and Rep. Gerry Connolly, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Government Operations, introduced legislation to prevent the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) from having no members when the current and sole Board member’s term expires on March 1, 2019. H.R. 1235, the MSPB Temporary Term Extension Act, would provide a one-time, one-year extension of the current member’s term and prohibit him from concurrently... Read more

Yesterday, Rep. Jennifer Wexton, Rep. Gerald E. Connolly, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Government Operations, and Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, the Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, sent a letter to the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management after reports of delayed back pay and other payroll inconsistencies experienced by furloughed and excepted federal employees. “Although Congress passed legislation to guarantee back pay for federal workers, ... Read more

Today Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA) and Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) reintroduced the Federal Adjustment of Income Rates (FAIR) Act, a bill that would provide federal employees with a 3.6 percent pay increase in 2020. Connolly and Schatz introduced similar legislation last Congress. “Federal employees are patriots, not pawns. Yet for 35 days the federal workforce was held hostage by the President,” Connolly said. “We have a responsibility to make sure these public servants know that we respec... Read more

Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA), chairman of the House Government Operations subcommittee, announced today that he will take Amer Al-Mudallal, a Fairfax constituent, to the State of the Union. Amer is a chemist at the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, Office of Pesticides Programs, Registration Division. Both Amer and his wife, who also works at the EPA, were furloughed during the 35-day shutdown. Amer currently serves as Chapter President of... Read more