House Oversight Committee Approves Reducing the Size of the Federal Government Through Attrition Act

By a vote of 23-14, the House Oversight Committee has passed the Reducing the Size of the Federal Government Through Attrition Act of 2011.

This bill requires the White House Office of Management and Budget to implement a 10% reduction in the federal civilian workforce by September 30, 2014, to be accomplished by ensuring that agencies replace not more than one of every three retiring employees.

The proposal, first included in the report of the President’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, is projected to save taxpayers $139 billion over ten years, according to the Committee.

Senator Ron Johnson (WI) and Representative Mick Mulvaney (SC-5) introduced the bill on September 23, 2011.  According to them, the measure would reduce the federal workforce by 10% by 2015, with expected savings of $139 billion over the next ten years.

“The federal workforce has grown by nearly 15 percent – or close to 300,000 employees – in just the last 5 years. According to the Office of Personnel Management, 400,000 federal employees are currently eligible for retirement,” according to the bill’s sponsors (Sen. Johnson and Rep. Mulvaney).

“This legislation would roll back much of the expansion of the federal bureaucracy, saving taxpayers billions. This reduction would be achieved solely through natural attrition, by retirement.  The bill would also promote saving taxpayer money through competition by ending unjustified service contracts and arbitrary insourcing,” they added.

The bill “allows the President to waive the workforce limitations imposed by this Act if the President determines that the existence of a state of war or other national security concern or the existence of an extraordinary emergency threatening life, health, public safety, property, or the environment so requires,” according to the Library of Congress in its summary.

The bill likewise “allows the President additional discretion to waive such workforce limitations if the President determines that the efficiency of a federal agency or the performance of its critical mission so requires,” the same summary stated.

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