Pettersen, Olszewski to Introduce SAFE Act to Shield Federal Workers from Trump Administration Layoffs During Potential Shutdown

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Representatives Brittany Pettersen (CO-07) and Johnny Olszewski (MD-02) introduced the Securing Assurance for Federal Employees (SAFE) Act to block the Trump Administration from carrying out mass federal layoffs during a potential government shutdown if Congress fails to pass a spending bill by Tuesday.

The bill responds directly to an Office of Management and Budget memo made public Thursday that outlines plans for layoffs that go far beyond standard shutdown furloughs, putting the jobs of 2.4 million federal employees on the line. Pettersen represents the Federal Center in Lakewood, the largest compound of federal buildings outside of Washington, D.C., and employer of approximately 6,000 federal employees.

"Ever since Trump was sworn in to office, he has relentlessly attacked the federal workers who provide critical services Coloradans depend on - from Social Security to Medicare to the IRS and more," said Pettersen. "Now, Trump and Republicans refuse to work with Democrats to find a solution to fund the government and lower the skyrocketing cost of health care. Trump has proven more than enough times that he doesn't care about working families - he only cares about his millionaire and billionaire friends who can line his pockets. Instead, he'd rather take a sledgehammer to our federal workforce, shut down the government, and take away paychecks from our servicemembers and hardworking families trying to stay afloat. It's shameful that Trump is using our federal workforce as a political pawn and at the very least we should stop him from doing even more damage before it's too late."

"Our federal workers are people, not political pawns," said Olszewski. "These mass firings would make any shutdown effectively permanent, stripping thousands of dedicated, patriotic workers of their livelihoods and depriving the American public of the critical government services they provide. If the Administration and Congressional Republicans refuse to return to Washington and negotiate a bipartisan budget, we must do everything possible to protect these employees."

The SAFE Act would safeguard federal employees during this and all future shutdowns by prohibiting unlawful terminations and requiring reinstatement with back pay for anyone fired in violation of the law.

The legislation is cosponsored by Representatives Kweisi Mfume (MD-07), Vicente Gonzalez (TX-34), Eleanor Holmes-Norton (DC), Jonathan Jackson (IL-01), Joyce Beatty (OH-03), Andre Carson (IN-07), Gil Cisneros (CA-31), Angie Craig (MN-02), Sarah Elfreth (MD-03), Laura Friedman (CA-30), Steny Hoyer (MD-05), Susie Lee (NV-03), Seth Moulton (MA-06), Emily Randall (WA-06), Andrea Salinas (OR-06), Melanie Stansbury (NM-01), James Walkinshaw (VA-11), George Whitesides (CA-27), Dina Titus (NV-01), Summer Lee (PA-12), Jim McGovern (MA-02) and Nanette Barragan (CA-44).