Good Government

Today, Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA), Vice Ranking Member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and Ranking Member Elijah Cummings (D-MD) voted against H.R. 50, legislation that would impose numerous new requirements that will slow down the regulatory process and give regulated industry an unfair advantage over public health organizations, doctors, scientists, and ordinary Americans when new rules are made. “We have seen this bill before. It was a bad idea then and it is a ... Read more

Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA), Vice Ranking Member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, released the following statement in advance of today’s hearing with FBI Deputy Assistant Director Peter Strzok: “Today’s hearing is the second hearing the House Committees on Oversight and Government Reform and the Judiciary have held regarding the actions of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) before the 2016 election. The Judiciary Committee a... Read more

By Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA) The president is once again rooting for a “good government shutdown.” This is a reckless and irresponsible threat. We have a fundamental obligation to keep government open, and I think members of both parties can agree that there are no winners in a government shutdown. Budget brinksmanship has many victims, notably among which are the grieving families of fallen service members. When a military family loses a loved one serving on active duty, they are entit... Read more

Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA), Vice Ranking Member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, released the following statement on EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s resignation: “Scott Pruitt's reign of venality is finally over. He made swamp creatures blush with his shameless excesses. All tolerated because President Trump liked his zealotry. Shame.” In April, Connolly penned an OpEd urging the President to dump Pruitt. Read more

Today, Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA) released the following statement regarding the inclusion of his bipartisan bill, the Families of Fallen Servicemembers First Act, in the 2019 Department of Defense Appropriations Act. The Families of Fallen Servicemembers First Act, originally introduced by Connolly and Rep. Tom Rooney (R-FL), ensures the immediate payment of military death benefits to survivors of fallen servicemembers during federal government shutdowns or any other circumstance when fe... Read more

Today, Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA), Vice Ranking Member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, sent a letter to Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Jeff Pon requesting information on actions taken in response to the 2015 OPM data breach. “The Department of Justice has declined to disclose publicly how the defendants in that case obtained the personally identifiable information (PII) of victims of the 2015 OPM data breach. I believe further details about how the d... Read more

Today, Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA), Vice Ranking Member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, sent a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions requesting a meeting on the recently reported Department of Justice criminal case involving data obtained in the 2015 OPM data breach. According to the Washington Post, two people have pleaded guilty to using the personal information of federal employees included in the data breach to apply for fraudulent loans. “I write to request ... Read more

Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA), Vice Ranking Member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, released the following statement on President Trump’s reorganization plan for the federal government: “The Trump reorganization plan for the federal government is a wish list for anti-government ideologues not based in fact or study. Like every other plan rolled out by this Administration, this is a blueprint for failure that would create dysfunction and chaos in the federal government ... Read more

Today, Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA) released the following statement on the Trump administration's shameful decision to separate children from their parents at the border: "We have all been moved by the cruelty of President Trump's decision to forcibly separate families at the border. I condemn this inhumane and morally repugnant policy. This is not who we are as Americans. It must end now. That is why I am cosponsoring legislation to end this barbaric policy. "Despite the administration’s ... Read more

Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA), Vice Ranking Member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, released the following statement in advance of this morning’s joint hearing with the House Committee on the Judiciary on the Department of Justice Inspector General’s report on FBI activities prior to the 2016 election: “On June 14, the Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released the report, “A Review of Various Actions by the Federal Bureau of Investigati... Read more