Three bills recently introduced in Congress aim to help federal employees dealing with layoffs that have been taking place under the Trump administration.
Two of the bills were introduced by Congresswoman Nikema Williams (D-GA). The Stopping to Efficiently Review Varying Impacts of Cuts to Employment Act (SERVICE) Act (H.R. 2906) would prevent a federal agency from reducing its workforce by 5% or more in a given fiscal year without conducting a full impact analysis of those cuts on the agency’s ability to carry out its mission, and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) evaluating the accuracy of that evaluation.
The legislation would achieve this by creating new regulatory hurdles for any agencies that try to reduce the size of their workforces by more than 5% by instituting new reporting requirements. Employee numbers could not be cut by more than 5% of the previous fiscal year’s total until 210 days after submitting a report analyzing the expected effects.
The reports would be required to include anticipated financial impacts, specifically:
- The pay and benefits of the employees identified for possible termination;
- Administrative costs to implement the action; and
- If applicable, contracting costs to replace functions performed by employees to be removed.
The second bill is known as the Ensuring Agency Service Quality Act (H.R. 2905). It would amend 5 USC 3101, the general authority provision that allows the government to employ, to read “shall employ” rather than “may employ.”
As currently written, 5 USC 3101 reads:
Each Executive agency, military department, and the government of the District of Columbia may employ such number of employees of the various classes recognized by chapter 51 of this title as Congress may appropriate for from year to year.
The change proposed by this legislation would change it to read:
Notwithstanding sections 3104 and 5108, each Executive agency and military department shall employ such number of employees of the various classes recognized by chapter 51 of this title as Congress may appropriate for from year to year.
Williams said in a statement:
Since Trump took office, our federal workers have faced scrutiny, wage insecurity, public doxxing, and wrongful terminations. We all want a more efficient federal government, but ripping the rug out from underneath federal workers who show up daily to serve the public is not the way to go about it. Our country’s veterans, public health, national security, and more are all threatened by this administration’s reckless actions toward our federal agencies. The SERVICE Act and Ensuring Agency Service Quality Act would protect workers and keep these necessary federal agencies properly functioning and serving the people of this country.
Protect Promoted Workers Act
Another bill is intended to help recently-promoted federal employees who have been laid off under the Trump Administration. The Protect Promoted Workers Act (H.R. 2880) was the first ever piece of legislation introduced by freshman Congressman Johnny Olszewski (D-MD).
It was inspired by the experience of one of his constituents, Katie Stahl, a 6-year Department of the Interior employee who was terminated in February because a recent promotion re-categorized her as probationary status.
Olszewski says that this experience is not unique for many recently fired federal employees because their probationary status was a result of recent promotions rather than them being new hires.
A federal government probationary employee is often, but not always, a new federal employee. The probationary period means each individual is going through an evaluation period, usually lasting for one year, although it can last for up to two years.
It is the final step in the hiring process. The purpose is to assess an employee’s performance, conduct, and suitability for permanent federal employment. It is a period for supervisors to determine whether the employee will successfully perform the job requirements before receiving the employment protection process given to career federal employees.
This means it is easier to fire a probationary employee than a regular career federal employee. Usually, it is much easier. This is why federal employees who were identified as being probationary employees were targeted for removal recently by the Trump administration as a means of downsizing the federal workforce.
The Protect Promoted Workers Act would do the following:
- Allow federal employees removed from competitive, excepted, or Senior Executive Service positions between January 20, 2025, to be reinstated with back pay
- Give probationary federal employees the same protections as other federal employees by requiring that federal employees promoted to competitive service, excepted service, or Senior Executive Service positions are subject to probationary or trial periods and the requirements of chapter 75 of title 5, United States Code
Olszewski said in a statement:
Workers were fired for being good at their jobs. They were offered no notice, no severance and no healthcare. It’s not fair to them or the taxpayers who rely on the vital services they excelled at providing. This bill sends a message to President Trump, DOGE and all future Administrations that our federal workers are not expendable. This is a critical step toward restoring the integrity of federal employment and the civility owed to our civil servants.
