Press Releases

Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA), the incoming Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, released the following statement:

“As Oversight Committee Democrats prepare for the 119th Congress, House Republicans are already signaling their intent to continue the dysfunction, chaos, and petty partisanship that defined their tenure during the 118th Congress. Of particular importance for the Oversight Committee are two provisions in the recently released Republican rules package that seek to cement the Republican crusade against the civil service and to protect Donald Trump and his Administration from legitimate congressional scrutiny.

“Republicans have retained the Holman rule in their rules package, which will again allow Congress to retaliate against and reduce the salaries of individual federal employees. We have seen this show play out in the current Congress, where Republicans have used the Holman Rule in mindless and vindictive fashion to target federal employees not for legitimate wrongdoing, but for personal grievances and targeted political attacks. Oversight Democrats are prepared to defend the federal workforce from this egregious and unwarranted assault on the patriots who keep the federal government up and running.

“Also included in the Republican rules package is a holdover provision from the current Congress that severely weakens the seven-member rule, which is intended to allow any seven members of the Oversight Committee to compel the release of information from the Executive Branch on matters related to the Committee’s jurisdiction. The Republican rules package would again require authorization from the Chairman to enforce this rule, a clear sign that House Republicans will trample on the rights of the minority to protect the Trump Administration from any real oversight. That effort will fail, and Committee Democrats will use every tool at our disposal to hold the incoming Administration accountable.

“President-elect Trump has openly pledged to use his Administration to commit grave abuses of power. He has promised to purge tens of thousands of dedicated and high-performing federal employees, weaponize the justice system to prosecute and imprison political opponents, carry out inhumane mass deportations that tear families apart, sell immunity to polluters who poison our environment and endanger public health, undermine voting and civil rights, and exploit public office for his own personal enrichment. Oversight Committee Democrats will fight relentlessly to block these dangerous abuses, safeguard our democracy, and protect the American people from a leader who has already shown his willingness to incite political violence, including against the United States Congress.”