Supporting Federal Workers

Floor Speech

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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Ivey for convening this Special Order hour and for his hard work on behalf of the Federal employees and all workers in his district. As a co-chair of the Congressional Labor Caucus, I am proud to stand with our essential workers who keep the government running every day.

Since day one of this administration, President Trump has relentlessly attacked Federal employees as he and Elon Musk seek to eliminate nonpartisan, career public servant jobs across the country. These attacks on Federal workers are straight out of the Project 2025 playbook.

Unelected billionaire Elon Musk has been bulldozing through the Federal workforce, demanding the firing of hundreds of thousands of employees whose only fireable offense is trying to serve the American people.

Federal workers are nurses and doctors at veterans hospitals. They process Social Security checks for seniors. They are TSA agents and air traffic controllers who keep us safe when we fly.

More than 85 percent of the Federal workforce operates outside of Washington, D.C. In my home State of Wisconsin, there are 18,000 Federal civilian employees, including over 5,800 Federal workers in my district alone.

In the last 2 days, my office has gotten over 1,000 constituent calls with people angry, hurt, and terrified that the services they use every day will vanish along with the workers who make these programs run. An attack on Federal workers is an attack on the services that Americans rely on every day.

Elon Musk and Trump will continue to put lives at risk as they seek to cut $4 trillion over the next 10 years to pay for tax cuts for Elon Musk, Donald Trump, and the wealthiest.

To all the selfless civil servants, our message is clear: America needs you, and we have your back. We are fighting in Congress to oppose Donald Trump and Elon Musk's baseless attacks on you and your important work. We urge you to stand strong.

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