A bipartisan group of more than two dozen lawmakers from the House and Senate have formed a Federal Workforce Caucus to support and strengthen the federal civilian workforce while protecting the integrity and livelihoods of America’s workers.
The new caucus will serve as a forum for lawmakers to highlight stories that show how government programs and workers improve the lives of the American public; facilitate conversations among and between lawmakers, unions, and other stakeholders on how to modernize the federal government; and advance policies that improve recruitment, retention, and workforce morale across federal agencies.
“After a traumatic year for the civil service, including a 43-day government shutdown and unprecedented mass firings, this caucus is very timely,” AFGE National Secretary-Treasurer Eric Bunn Sr. said at a Feb. 4 press conference announcing the caucus. “Your members’ expertise and commitment will amplify the voice of the federal civilian workforce when it matters most. AFGE stands ready to support and work with the caucus. Our country depends on it.”
The Trump administration poses the biggest threat to the nonpartisan, merit-based civil service since its founding in 1883, Bunn said. He highlighted AFGE’s top three priorities for the caucus, which are:
U.S. Reps. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and James Walkinshaw (D-Va.) and U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) announced the launch of the caucus on Feb. 4. Additional members of the caucus are U.S. Sens. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Edward Markey (D-Mass.), and Mark Warner (D-Va.); U.S. Reps. Don Beyer (D-Va.), Sarah Elfreth (D-Md.), Glenn Ivey (D-Md.), Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), April McClain Delaney (D-Md.), Jennifer McClellan (D-Va.), Kweisi Mfume (D-Md.), Johnny Olszewski (D-Md.), Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Bobby Scott (D-Va.), Suhas Subramanyam (D-Va.), and Eugene Vindman (D-Va.); and U.S. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.).
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