Tag Archives: Gerry Connolly

House Passes Bill That Would Thwart Trump Plot to Purge Federal Workers

“The former president’s attempt to remove qualified experts and replace them with political loyalists threatened our national security and our government’s ability to function the way the American people expect it to,” said Rep. Gerry Connolly, the bill’s sponsor.

By Jessica Corbett  Published 9-15-2022 by Common Dreams

Donald Trump speaking at the 2017 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland. Photo: Gage Skidmore/flickr/CC

U.S. House Democrats and a handful of Republicans on Thursday rejected former President Donald Trump’s plot to oust civil servants by passing the Preventing a Patronage System Act.

“The civil servants who make up our federal workforce are the engine that keeps our federal government running,” said Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), the bill’s sponsor. “We rely on their experience and expertise to provide every basic government service—from delivering the mail to helping families in the wake of natural disasters.” Continue reading

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‘Authoritarianism 101’: Trump Plot to Purge Civil Servants If Reelected Draws Alarm

“Do not underestimate the destruction this will cause,” said one critic.

By Julia Conley  Published 7-22-2022 by Common Dreams

Photo: Trump White House Archives (Public domain)

Government watchdogs on Friday warned that a plan by former President Donald Trump to drastically remake the federal workforce should he win the presidency in 2024 would “utterly destroy” public service in the United States.

As Axios reported Friday, central to Trump’s plans for a second term is the reinstatement of his executive order known as “Schedule F,” which established a new category of federal employees. Continue reading

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‘DeJoy and Bloom Are Bandits’: Top Dem Calls for Removal of Postal Service Chiefs

Demand follows new reporting that DeJoy purchased up to $305,000 in bonds of company where Bloom—described as his “quasi-boss” and overseer at USPS—is a managing partner.

By Jon Queally, staff writer for Common Dreams.  Published 8-14-2021

Screenshot: C-SPAN

The removal of both U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and Ron Bloom, chair of the Postal Service Board of Governors, was demanded Friday night after it was reported that DeJoy had purchased hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of publicly-traded bonds from an investment firm for which Bloom is a managing partner—a transaction critics say is a gross breach of government ethics.

With Bloom and DeJoy—both appointed during former President Donald Trump’s tenure—already under fire from defenders of the U.S. Postal Service for a scheme to slow mail service and undermine the nation’s federal mailing system from within, the new reporting by the Washington Post revealed that DeJoy “purchased 11 bonds from Brookfield Asset Management each worth between $1,000 and $15,000, or $15,000 and $50,000” between October of 2020 and April of this year. Continue reading

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Democrats Warn DeJoy’s New 10-Year Plan Guarantees ‘Death Spiral’ for US Postal Service

“This so-called plan from Louis DeJoy should itself be a dead letter. This is a blueprint for the Post Office’s continued decay and destruction.”

By Jake Johnson, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 9-23-2021

Congressional Democrats gravely warned Tuesday that Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s new 10-year strategic plan would ensure that the U.S. Postal Service remains in a “death spiral” by further degrading the agency’s performance, slashing Post Office hours across the country, and raising postage prices for consumers and businesses.

Slamming the sweeping changes as “draconian,” Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) said in a statement Tuesday that “customers and Congress are fed up with DeJoy’s service cuts and record delays.” Continue reading

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‘Fire DeJoy Before He Burns Down USPS’: Postmaster General Pushes Plan for Slower Mail, Higher Prices

“Biden should fire the governors of the USPS who appointed DeJoy, install new ones, and have them fire DeJoy. He should not be allowed to continue destroying the Postal Service.”

By Jake Johnson, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 2-14-2021

Undeterred by the backlash and widespread delays that followed his disruptive operational changes at the U.S. Postal Service last year, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is reportedly planning to roll out another slate of policies that would significantly hike postage rates and further slow the delivery of certain kinds of mail.

While the plan has yet to be finalized, new details of the proposal—first reported by the Washington Post—intensified pressure on President Joe Biden to take decisive action before DeJoy inflicts any more damage on the most popular government institution in the country. Continue reading

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Quietly Signed Trump Order Denounced as ‘Declaration of War’ Against Federal Employees

The order sets up Trump’s “cronies to burrow into permanent jobs in the U.S. government,” said one critic.

By Julia Conley, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 10-23-2020

Photo: AFGE

After years of complaining that career federal employees are part of the “deep state” and aim to undermine his administration, President Donald Trump this week took a major step toward remaking the federal government as one without nonpartisan civil servants—signing a little-noticed executive order that would strip potentially hundreds of thousands of government employees of their job security.

Under the order, signed late Wednesday, career federal employees could be fired with little or no cause, lose their right to due process, and potentially lose union representation. Continue reading

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