Nov. 11, 2019, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement in support of the MERIT Act by U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.) and Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.):

“The Veteran’s Administration can fire incompetent, lazy or recalcitrant employees due to 2017 reforms passed by Congress and signed by President Trump in the aftermath of a scandal where the VA health care system was letting veterans die on the streets rather than provide care.

“The result of changes in the laws governing VA personnel are clear as more than 8,000 VA employees have been fired, demoted or suspended since President Trump took office. The only question is why shouldn’t this same type of reform be enacted throughout the federal government?

“Congress is in the midst of passing another massive funding bill, and the language which has allowed for bad federal employees to be fired from the Veteran’s Administration should be included for all federal employees. Known as the MERIT Act, legislation sponsored by Senator David Perdue and Representative Barry Loudermilk both of Georgia, would take the VA language and apply it to every federal agency.

“One of the dirty little secrets which give the administrative state so much power in Washington, D.C. is that it is virtually impossible to fire lazy, incompetent and recalcitrant employees, so taxpayers keep getting fleeced because of the civil service laws.

“Congress needs to fix this broken system and a simple, easy first step is to include the MERIT Act language into the Omnibus spending bill.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 1 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview.

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