Today, Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform, released a letter in support of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s amendment to the Modern Employment Reform, Improvement, and Transformation (MERIT) Act (H.R. 559).

The letter can be found here and below:

Dear Members of Congress,

I am writing in support of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s amendment to H.R. 559. Representative Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) originally introduced H.R. 559, the Modern Employment Reform, Improvement, and Transformation (MERIT) Act, on January 13, 2017, and Senator David Perdue (R-GA) introduced a companion bill, S. 3200, in the Senate on July 12, 2018. This amendment passed out of the House committee on July 17, 2018.

Americans for Tax Reform strongly supports the MERIT Act because it would save taxpayer dollars and strengthen the federal workforce.

The MERIT Act would change the firing process for federal employees in several key ways. First, federal employees who are performing poorly would receive a 7 to 21 day notice of action with an expected final date of employment and the reasons for dismissal. Second, if an employee appealed the termination to the Merit Systems Protection Board, the Board would have 30 days to prevent the firing. Finally, the probationary period for new hires would be extended from one year to two years.

The MERIT Act needs to be passed now because there have been numerous examples in recent years of poor-performing employees who continue to be paid by the federal taxpayers. Just recently, for example, Project Veritas released a series of videos called “Deep State Unmasked.” In those videos, government employees explain how they are working against the Trump Administration and that they cannot be fired.

Unfortunately, today, many poor-performing workers or those who commit misconduct are simply demoted or changed to another department because the firing process is too long and complicated. The American taxpayer should not continue to pay for these workers, and these workers hurt morale within the government workforce.

The MERIT Act would thankfully change this.

Because the MERIT Act would improve the federal workforce and how taxpayer dollars are spent, Americans for Tax Reform strongly supports this amendment.

Sincerely,

Grover G. Norquist
President