Erich Wagner at Government Executive reports a coalition of more than a dozen Federal Employee Unions are urging Senate lawmakers to reassert Congress’ Constitutional power of the purse and block the Trump Administration’s unilateral workforce and programmatic cuts when they seek to keep the government open in the coming days. Congress must reach an agreement to fund Federal Agencies and avert a government shutdown on March 15th. With razor-thin margins in both the House and Senate, any deal likely will require Democratic votes to pass. President Donald Trump has already called on lawmakers to pass a “clean” full-year continuing resolution that would keep agencies operating until September, but the Federal Workers Alliance - a coalition of 15 Federal Worker Unions, including the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers and the National Federation of Federal Employees, in a letter to Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins (Republican-Maine) and Vice Chairwoman Patty Murray (Democrat-Washington) called on Senators to reassert Congress’ power of the purse and block the Administration’s efforts to fire Workers en masse and cancel contracts and grants unilaterally. The groups call for language guaranteeing a “permanent halt and reversal” of the Administration’s funding freezes, contract cancellations and efforts to shutter agencies like the U.S. Agency for International Development, which experts say likely violate the Impoundment Control Act and statutes establishing those agencies. Congress should also issue a two-year moratorium on changes to the Federal Workforce and agency operations, the Unions argued.

To Continue Reading This Labor News Report, Go To: Unions call on senators to ‘defund’ Trump’s workforce purges - Government Executive

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