GOP Readies Cuts to Federal Workforce Under Trump

Reductions part of long-sought civil service overhaul

Posted Dec 6, 2016 5:00 AM


Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz is readying a plan that would likely make big changes to federal workers’ generous retirement benefits (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)

For years, Republicans in Congress have been eyeing an overhaul of the federal workforce — by reducing the number of workers and curtailing benefits and pay while making it easier to fire bad employees.

Now, with a president-elect who has promised to do much the same, 2017 could be the best time in recent memory to make sweeping changes affecting those who work for the bureaucracy.

One major plan is being readied by Rep. Jason Chaffetz, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The Utah Republican calls it “high on our agenda.” While details remain sketchy, it would likely mean big changes to the generous retirement benefits given federal workers, mainly by looking to shift new employees from a defined benefit into a market-based 401(k).

He is also interested in making it easier to fire workers who perform badly and wants to reduce the federal civilian workforce, which currently numbers 2.1 million employees, not including U.S. Postal Service employees.

“We’ve got to deal with budget realities, and while we have good federal workers, we have too many of them,” he told Roll Call.

It's about time federal and state employees got their crazy retirement plans pruned back. F ridiculous.

Hopefully Trump stops all gov retirement checks and until a full review can happen.

Get rid of medicare and social security too!

Redw Wrote:
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> It's about time federal and state employees got
> their crazy retirement plans pruned back. F
> ridiculous.
>
> Hopefully Trump stops all gov retirement checks
> and until a full review can happen.
>
> Get rid of medicare and social security too!


Not part of GOP ..I'm fine with this cut.

I've seen nice cushy federal jobs ..you could literally train a monkey to do some of that.

Cut the fat..reminds me, I need to get on a diet for new year's resolution.

The federal government "fat" is disgusting. The corruption is rampant. Five different government agencies have control over a single issue.

Yet, with Unions in place, it's difficult to deal with this waste, because that means RIFs.

Perhaps, President Trump will finally start dealing with the parasitic federal government. In fact, federal employee unions should be banned by federal government.

The logic is absurd: We need an entity to represent us from our employer, the federal government. Meanwhile, we'll continue with the protection of the federal government.

Been there and done that. Fewer government workers means more government contractors which then means more government workers to oversee the government contractors.

But we're growing the military again, and they're more expensive than the suits, so probably no savings anyway.

I see what everyone is saying here, and I'm glad with the ban on federal unions and allowing fed employees to invest in 401k benefits instead of pushing them into a "pension." The productive employees would see a real benefit to their savings and retirement accounts from vesting their savings into a comprehensible retirement plan. The unproductive employees, however, would not. President Trump needs to gather the latter group together and force them out of government. Just grab them by the pussy and throw them out.

Drain the swamp.

Useless - too much pay, luncheons and time off

Drain it!!!!!

Good times ahead to be a contractor with little government oversight....milk it baby..milk it

Here is where it's going to hurt some people. Face it, many of the govies here are transplants, hence our weird (out of touch with the rest of the US) culture we have had to adapt to.
Government - federal and local - MUST cut the spending or we are doomed.

Federal retirement was already restructured in the 1980s, with the defined benefit cut and institution of the Thrift Savings Plan, or TSP. The TSP is the largest investment pool in the country. Costs are very low. In fact, some in the financial industry feel the TSP is unfair competition since it is run by public employees who don't get Goldman-Sachs level salaries. As for employee numbers, no one in the government has a job that Congress hasn't authorized, and no one gets a paycheck that came from anything other than an appropriation by Congress. The Postal Service is run as a quasi-governmental privatized hybrid organization of some kind, which means the salaries are paid for by customers who buy stamps and services. The taxpayers won't save anything by cutting Postal Service employee numbers. Finally, money gets into the economy through government spending. If you have a dollar, it is because the government spent a dollar on something. The government spends money by contracting for goods and services. Take a basic course in economics and stop relying on magical thinking.

I'm a fed with 10 years of service. I'd give up my pension today if they'd up the TSP match to 15-20% and refund my prior FERS contributions along with a portion of my agency's prior contributions. At today's contribution rates, the fed would still be saving money as long as the match is <18.2% (the current 5% match + the current 13.2% agency contribution).
Attachments:

Not going to happen. Too many necks to fit under the guillotine. If anything, contractors will get the axe to some of their projects. Lolz at the people bitter about not getting that gov job they applied for on usajobs.

Dr. Memory Wrote:
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> Finally, money gets into the economy through
> government spending productive economic activity.
> If you have a dollar, it is because
> the government spent has a dollar, on
> something it came from somewhere else.
> The government spends gets money by
> taxing contracting for goods and services of others.
> Take a basic course in economics and stop relying on magical
> thinking.


FIFY

You should take your own advice.

I know of one US Agency, that was self funding and they are going to Riff 700 employees. I agree the Gov't spending is out of control, and if they ran their household like they run the Gov't they would be Homeless a long time ago. As for the BIG Pensions, you are just sore, 30 years and after paying for medical 900 a month after taxes, yeah We are rich. well as a Grade 8. well maybe since you don't make that much now. as for State or Local Retirees, they contribute a portion of their salary into the Retirement Fund held separate from State and its based on a Percent so 28 years of service 100 a month for each year with a 1100 hazard duty supplement, again I say sore individual complaining.