IFPTE Letter to Congress Explains Why Lawmakers Need to Reject the CR Being Considered in Congress This Week
UPDATE: The House of Representatives has passed the continuing Resolution on largely partisan lines, 217 to 213. The Senate will vote on advancing the funding bill on Wednesday.
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With America caught between a government funding deadline and possible shutdown at the end of this week and a Trump Administration seeking to permanently shut down core government functions, layoff hundreds of thousands of federal workers, and in some cases shutting down whole agencies without any authorization or oversight from Congress, IFPTE told Congressional lawmakers to vote against passing a wholly inadequate continuing resolution (CR) that does nothing to limit the illegal and unconstitutional over reach of the executive branch. The House of Representatives will be vote on in the House of Representatives on Tuesday. The Senate is expected to vote on the bill on Wednesday.
Instead, IFPTE calls on lawmakers to” work in a bipartisan manner to advance government funding that averts a government shutdown, provides necessary funding levels for fiscal year 2025 (FY25), and stipulates that the Trump Administration cannot continue to dismantle the federal government.”
In the Senate, the legislative process requires 60 votes to close debate before a bill can be considered for amendments and final passage. That 60 vote threshold provides a point of leverage for Senators to push for an alternative bipartisan approach that protects the federal government, the workers who provide those services, and the laws and Constitutional checks and balances that are the foundation of our nation.
Through the first weeks of the Trump Administration, the President and his billionaire advisor Elon Musk have openly broken laws, violated Constitutional limits on the executive branch, and proceeded to dismantle the federal government and implement mass terminations for federal workers without any regard for rule or law or the federal functions and programs that Congress has provided funding for.
On Monday, IFPTE and federal labor unions worked with lawmakers in the House of Representatives to introduce amendments to the CR that would add accountability and reaffirm Congress’ role in appropriating and allocating funding for agencies and programs, and make sure that President Trump and Musk cannot override the Constitutionally-defined role of Congress. See “IFPTE Calls on Speaker Johnson to Instruct House Rules Committee to Allow Votes on Amendments.”
The letter notes that the reductions-in-force (RIFs) at a few federal agencies point to sweeping cuts to federal services that will be devastating to Americans and the American economy. The letter lists some examples:
“So far, we know the RIFs at the Department of Veterans Affairs will cut 83,000 jobs or 18% of its workforce and the Social Security Administration will RIF 7,000 workers or 12% of its workforce. Just these cuts alone directly harm the services that veterans, retired and disabled Americans count on. RIFs at agencies like NOAA, which we have heard is targeting cuts to over 1,000 or 20% of its workforce, will directly harm so many American communities and commercial industries that rely on accurate and public scientific information and take a toll on the livelihoods of working people in those industries and communities. If Elon Musk and President Trump’s stated targets of removing over 200,000 federal workers are to be believed, the loss of expertise, institutional knowledge, and talent will set back the ability of the government to deliver reliable, quality, public services for years if not decades.”
The CR itself, which was crafted by Republican leadership without bipartisan engagement, contains some troubling provisions that cut funding to important programs and allow the Trump Administration wide latitude to continue to dismantle the government. IFPTE’s letter to lawmakers explains,
“[T]his funding bill includes provisions that allow this administration, which has gone to great lengths to publicize its animosity to the federal government and the federal workforce, to continue to cut government services that Americans in every Congressional District count on. H.R. 1968 includes almost $23 billion in cuts to funding for veterans suffering from toxic exposure, allows President Trump and Elon Musk to reallocate funds and cut Social Security and other essential services, cuts transportation and housing and rural broadband infrastructure spending, as well as 44% of budget for the Army Corps of Engineers projects for maintaining our inland waterways, flood risk management, and support commerce moving through the American heartland.”
IFPTE will continue to work with Congress to avert government shutdown and if necessary advocate for a short-term CR to fund the government for a few weeks, which will allow us to continue to advocate to lawmakers to include provisions in any government funding bill that protects the federal functions and services that Congress is funding.
Read IFPTE’s letter to the House of Representatives here [PDF].