Ranking Member Scott Statement on Latest Round of Mass Layoffs at ED and HHS

Ranking Member Scott Statement on Latest Round of Mass Layoffs at ED and HHS

WASHINGTON - Ranking Member Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (VA-03), House Committee on Education and Workforce, released the following statement after the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services confirmed its employees have received reduction-in-force notices.

"Today, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought announced mass layoffs of government employees, including employees at the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services. Since February, the Trump Administration has fired tens of thousands of government employees, only to rehire many of them later because their work was deemed essential.

"In addition to wasting millions of taxpayer dollars to fire and rehire government employees, arbitrarily firing government employees means there are fewer people to help administer essential programs. Moreover, I fear the lasting impact of mass firings will be an incredible loss of invaluable institutional knowledge. Furthermore, random and chaotic layoffs will make it difficult to recruit qualified employees in the future.

"The House Republicans have been on vacation for three weeks, and Speaker Johnson just announced plans to extend his vacation for another week. Active-duty service members will miss their first paycheck in five days. The government has been shut down for ten days. Congressional Republicans need to get back to work and negotiate with Democrats to reopen the government and reduce the cost of Americans' health care."

Background: To see how this action is part of President Trump's Project 2025 Agenda to benefit billionaires at the expense of workers, students, and families, read page 81 of Project 2025 here.

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