Republicans Aim to Stop Agencies from ‘Blindly Filling Empty Desks’

Federal agencies shed nearly 100,000 positions from their rolls over the last two years, but a pair of Republican lawmakers wants them to go way further.

Reps. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., and Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C., this week introduced the Federal Workforce Through Attrition Act, which would require a 10 percent reduction in the number of civilian federal employees -- not including those at the U.S. Postal Service -- by the end of fiscal 2016. The bill, Lummis said, would save $35 billion over five years without forcing anyone out of a job.

“Attrition is a solution that requires the federal government to do what any business, state or local government would do to cut costs -- limit new hires,” Lummis said. The bill would require agencies to report to the Office of Management and Budget quarterly to demonstrate they are hiring only one new employee for every three who leave.

“Instead of blindly filling empty desks,” Lummis added, “this bill forces agencies to take a step back, consider which positions are crucial, and make decisions based on necessity rather than luxury. Real, productive job creation takes place on Main Street America, not in the bloated federal government.”

The bill also includes a trigger mechanism for an automatic hiring freeze if agencies are not meeting their quarterly benchmarks or the federal government as a whole is not on track for a 10 percent reduction by October 2016. It would match the decrease in federal employment with a corresponding cut back in service contracts to “ensure positions are not simply backfilled” by contractors.

“It’s no secret that the federal government is way too big and spends way too much,” Mulvaney said. “This bill is a big step in the direction of efficiency, and I’m hopeful this common-sense approach is something my colleagues across the aisle can agree on.”

The workforce reduction plan is similar to one put forward in each of the budget proposals authored by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., which the Republican Party as a whole largely embraced. The blueprints also called for a 10 percent federal workforce reduction through attrition, but provided an exemption for national security positions.

The Lummis-Mulvaney bill would allow for a presidential waiver for “a state of war, national security, or an extraordinary emergency threatening life, health, safety or property.”

Earlier in the week, House Republicans unveiled a plan to reduce the number of Defense Department civilians by 15 percent by fiscal 2026.