Oversight Democrats Rail Against Republican Bill to Betray Americans, Offer 25 Commonsense Amendments

Washington, D.C. (April 30, 2025)— Rep. Stephen F. Lynch led Committee Democrats in opposition to Republicans’ disastrous reconciliation bill that would represent the largest cuts to Medicaid in history, strip health care away from millions of Americans, increase the costs of everyday essentials, and bolster the Trump-Musk Administration’s attacks on the federal workforce to pay for tax cuts to billionaires.  Today’s vote against this disastrous reconciliation bill is the first bipartisan vote against Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” with one Republican joining Democrats to oppose.

“The real reason we’re here today is because Congressional Republicans have instructed this committee to target our federal workforce with approximately $50 billion in funding cuts—regardless of the impact on hard-working, loyal federal employees and the critical services they provide to the American people,” said Rep. Lynch in his opening statement. “Oversight Democrats stand with struggling families, we oppose corruption and abuse of power, and we are committed to solving our nation’s crises without sacrificing the well-being of our country’s civil servants.” 

Ahead of today’s markup, to mark 100 days of chaos, cruelty, and corruption since President Trump took office, Committee Democrats sent more than one hundred letters to recipients across the Trump-Musk Administration demanding compliance with ongoing investigations by Committee Democrats.

Democrats offered a series of amendments to add commonsense safeguards to the bill.

• Rep. Lynch offered an amendment to prohibit any executive agencies from forcing new federal employees to choose between merit-based civil service protections and lower retirement contributions. 
• Rep. Lynch offered an amendment to exempt veterans from the High-5 calculation of federal retirement benefits.
• Rep. Lynch offered an amendment to exempt current federal employees from the High-5 calculation of federal retirement benefits.
• Rep. Kweisi Mfume, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Government Operations, offered an amendment to prohibit any questions in the federal hiring process related to an employee’s political party membership or any political activities.
• Rep. Mfume offered an amendment to prohibit the Republican budget cuts from facilitating or aiding the political purge of the federal merit-based civil service workforce.
• Rep. Melanie Stansbury, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency, offered an amendment to prohibit the Trump Administration from taking any action that would impact the delivery or timing of vital services like Social Security, Medicaid, food, housing, and income supports, and to prohibit the Trump Administration from attempting to privatize these services.
• Rep. Stansbury offered an amendment to prohibit any individual serving in an advisory or decision-making role to the Trump Administration (including Special Government Employees) with significant financial conflicts of interest or who has been found by a Federal court to have violated a federal or state law while serving in that role, shall be barred from serving, advising, or interacting with the executive branch, and from entering into a federal contract, and shall be held liable for any damages to the Federal government and the American people.
• Rep. Robert Garcia, Ranking Member of the Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets, offered an amendment to provide immediate expiration of Republican Budget cuts if President Trump, any agency head, or anyone in or affiliated with DOGE is found to have committed insider trading related to tariff actions.
• Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs, offered an amendment to require immediate expiration of Republican budget cuts if the White House or any executive branch agency violates a Supreme Court order.
• Rep. Summer Lee, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Federal Law Enforcement, offered an amendment to require immediate expiration of Republican budget cuts if the Consumer Price Index increases by more than one percentage point after the date of enactment.
• Rep. Lee offered an amendment to require immediate expiration of Republican budget cuts if the President or any executive branch agency deports any person in the United States without due process under the law.
• Rep. Lee offered an amendment to require immediate expiration of Republican budget cuts if the President, a special government employee, or a member of the Cabinet violates federal regulations prohibiting any use of public office for private gain.
• Rep. Lee offered an amendment to exempt employees from paying a filing fee to appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board related to OPM actions, reductions in force, terminations of federal employees, and other actions related to terminations and reinstatements of federal employees.
• Rep. Greg Casar offered an amendment to require immediate expiration of Republican budget cuts if Elon Musk remains a special government employee beyond the legal 130-of-365 day limit.
• Rep. Casar offered an amendment to revoke President Trump’s March 27, 2025, executive order that excludes federal employees at more than 30 federal agencies from collective bargaining.
• Rep. Casar offered an amendment to provide immediate expiration of Republican budget cuts if Elon Musk is found to have personally benefitted from his position within federal government.
• Rep. Emily Randall offered an amendment to require immediate expiration of Republican budget cuts if the Administration makes any cuts to Medicaid or Medicare.
• Rep. Randall offered an amendment to add the Federal Retirement Fairness Act, which would allow federal workers who began their careers as temporary workers to make catch-up retirement contributions so they can retire fairly.
• Rep. Randall offered an amendment to prohibit Republicans and the Trump Administration from imposing new cost barriers to federal employees seeking to challenge agency misconduct or wrongdoing.
• Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on the Military and Foreign Affairs, offered an amendment to prohibit Federal Employees Retirement Systems (FERS) employees and FERS-Revised Annuity Employees (FERS-RAE) from increased FERS retirement contributions.
• Rep. Yassamin Ansari offered an amendment to prohibit the elimination of the FERS annuity supplement for all federal workers.
• Rep. Wesley Bell offered an amendment to prohibit Republicans and the Trump Administration from requiring any current or former federal employee to pay a fee to file an appeal with the Merit Systems Protection Board.
• Rep. Lateefah Simon offered an amendment to provide immediate expiration of Republican budget cuts if the Administration makes any cuts to SNAP benefits.
• Rep. Ayanna Pressley offered an amendment to maintain FERS Supplemental Retirement Payments for federal employees who are veterans or have disabilities.
• Rep. Pressley offered an amendment to require a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on the impact of the Republicans' reconciliation bill on certain demographic groups, including by race, ethnicity, gender, age, income, veteran status, and disability status.

Ahead of today’s markup, Committee Republicans blocked real oversight of the Trump-Musk Administration, stopping votes on legislation Committee Democrats introduced to shine a light on the Administration’s disregard for national security and protecting Americans’ most sensitive information: 

House Resolution Investigating the Security Clearances of Elon Musk and his DOGE Affiliates, introduced by Rep. Robert Garcia, Ranking Member of the Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets, would require the Administration to provide information, documents, and communications to Congress related to the vetting, background investigations, and security clearances held by Elon Musk and individuals employed by or contracted with DOGE.

House Resolution Investigating DOGE’s Unsactioned Use of Sensitive Government Data and AI and its Impact on American Privacy and National Security, introduced by Rep. Melanie Stansbury, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency, would require the Administration to provide documents, communications, and information regarding:  how data and AI are being used by DOGE at federal agencies;  the federal data and sources of federal data that may have been fed into any AI system, including details of whether any of this information contained sensitive data of American citizens; any concerns raised by federal employees that the use of AI violates the Privacy Act or the security of Americans’ personal information; any concerns raised by federal employees that the use of AI violated the Advancing American AI Act by failing to publicly disclose current and planned AI use cases; and lists of federal expenditures, programs, or personnel identified by AI for freezes or cuts.

House Resolution Investigating the Trump Administration’s Illegal Use of Unsanctioned, Insecure Communications Services for National Security Duties, introduced by Rep. Stephen F. Lynch, would require the Administration to provide documents, communications, and information regarding:  the Administration’s plan to preserve official communications in compliance with federal recordkeeping requirements;  the use of Signal, Gmail, and other electronic communication platforms on personal and government phones to conduct official business; and plans, procedures, guidance, or practices to ensure that official business conducted on messaging platforms like Signal are preserved. 

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