A bill that seeks to reduce the federal workforce by 10% over the next few years was introduced today by House Committee on Oversight & Government Reform Chmn. Darrell Issa (R-Cal.) and subcommittee leaders Dennis Ross (R-Fla.), and Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah).
The legislation aims to accomplish that goal by limiting the hiring of one new federal employee for every three who leave their jobs or retire. The Reducing the Size of the Federal Government Through Attrition Act of 2011 (HR-2114) supposedly would save taxpayers $127.5 billion over ten years.
The bill likewise prohibits federal entities from simply awarding contracts to vendors to make up for the loss of personnel.
Chaffetz, who also is a member of the House Budget Committee, said in a joint statement, "The American people deserve a federal government that is smaller, leaner, and more efficient... Private sector job creators and families in my district have learned to do more with less. So should the federal government."
One former government insider who spoke to U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor on condition of anonymity predicted that major departments such as State, Defense, Health & Human Services, and possibly even the Dept. of Commerce likely would evade such cuts if the bill is signed into law.
“They’ll simply claim that matters of national security, economics, or public health preclude them from complying with the law,” according to the source, who had not yet seen the bill.
Indeed, a closer look at the bill’s text reveals that its sponsors already have built such a mechanism into the proposed law.
According to Section 2(e), the White House would be granted the power to approve waivers when it deems necessary::
(e) WAIVER.—
(1) EMERGENCIES.—This section may be waived upon a determination by the President that—
(A) the existence of a state of war or other national security concern so requires; or
(B) the existence of an extraordinary emergency threatening life, health, public safe ty, property, or the environment so requires.
(2) AGENCY EFFICIENCY OR CRITICAL MISSION.—This section may be waived, with respect to a particular position or category of positions in an agency, upon a determination by the President that the efficiency of the agency or the performance of a critical agency mission so requires.
“In the end, we’ll see a savings of millions, maybe, not billions, for the taxpayer,” the source said.
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