Legislation could make it easier to fire bad federal employees
Jul 21, 2016, 10:22 AM
Rep. Ted Yoho talks about proposed legislation that would make it easier to fire bad federal employees. (AP)
(AP)
Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Florida) has some proposed legislation that has KIRO Radio’s Jason Rantz giddy. Rantz asked Yoho at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland about the bill that makes it easier to fire bad employees in the federal government.
Jason Rantz: You’re pushing some legislation that I actually love. You’re trying to make it easier to get rid of federal employees who in any other world would not have another job.
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Ted Yoho: It’s called FIA, or the Federal Employee Accountability Act, and it allows an employee that has a grievance to have their due process. They can go through it, but it shortens it to 45 days and they can only have one appeal, instead of the multiple appeals that a person can have. This is aimed at people who have done wrong – like the EPSA employee who embezzled $500,000 but was able to retire with full benefits, and they put other people in different departments and the guy who was looking at thousands of hours of porn on the taxpayers dime got a 30-day suspension with pay, and he’s still there. This will make it a lot easier to remove a bad employee, just like we have to perform in the private sector.
JR: But it doesn’t go after any of the general protections that you have with people who are there. Because we don’t want to make it so easy that we’re just getting rid of people who should not be fired.
TY: No, not at all. There will be the due process they can go through. But the way the system is now, it can be appealed over and over again, and it just drags the process out. And during that time, a lot of these people are on suspension with pay with full benefits. Our bill, when they get under an investigation, they’re suspended with no benefits. And if they win their appeal process, going through the due process of the investigation, they get all that back. It’s accountability in the federal government.
Taken from Wednesday’s edition of the Jason Rantz Show on KIRO Radio. Edited for clarity.
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