Oct. 16, 2018, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement upon signing onto the Conservative Action Project letter to Congress in support of the MERIT Act to expedite the firing of federal employees:
“Congress needs to pass the MERIT Act during the post-election lame duck session. More than one hundred conservative leaders agree, signing the ‘Now is the time to pass the MERIT Act’ memo to Congress that was released today.
“The truth is that the only way that you can drain the swamp is if you can fire the swamp, and passing the MERIT Act will at least increase the ability for public employee managers to fire lazy, incompetent or downright resisting federal employees using an expedited but fair process. In fact, the bill should be re-named the fire the swamp bill. Six months ago, Americans for Limited Government set up www.firetheswamp.com to promote the passage of the MERIT Act, and it is gratifying to be joined by esteemed people like former Attorney General Edwin Meese, former Congressman Bob McEwen and retired General Jerry Boykin on this important issue.
“In 2017, Congress passed very similar language to begin to clean up the mess at the Veteran’s Administration and it has been working with firings increasing by 26 percent in that agency. In the lame duck, Congress needs to come together to apply this language across the government by passing S. 3200 by Senator David Perdue and H.R. 559 by Representative Barry Loudermilk.”
Attachments:
“Now is the time to pass the MERIT Act,” Conservative Action Project, Oct. 16, 2017 at http://conservativeactionproject.com/now-is-the-time-to-pass-the-merit-act/
October 16, 2018
Washington, DC
Conservatives have long advocated for reform of our civil service to address a system plagued with inefficiency and abuse. Currently, managers within the federal government struggle to fire underperforming employees. This is no more evident than by the public sector firing rate of 3.37% and the private sector firing rate of 17.27%. America needs across the board civil service reform.
The Modern Employment Reform, Improvement, and Transformation Act of 2017 (MERIT Act), has been introduced in both the Senate and the House to address these critical issues.
The MERIT Act takes the successful model implemented to reform the Veteran’s Administration, and applies it across the federal government. The bill creates a new process for the head of an agency to remove employees from the civil service for poor performance or misconduct, establishing a practical timeline of 7-21 days for the employee to receive notice, retaining the ability to appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board, setting a timeline of a maximum of 30 days for responding to appeals, and creating additional Congressional reporting requirements for the Merit Systems Protection Board when decisions are delayed.
It is more important than ever that Congress commit to quick consideration of this measure, particularly as unelected bureaucrats continue to boldly undermine President Trump. Poor performers–and those who seek to subvert the will of the administration under which they serve–should be held accountable.
We urge the quick consideration and passage of the MERIT Act to improve government efficiency, streamline effective delivery of services, and ensure accountability across the government.
The Honorable Edwin Meese III
Former Attorney General
President Ronald Reagan
Tom McClusky
President
March for Life Action
Rachel Bovard
Former Policy Director
Senate Steering Committee
Tim Chapman
Executive Director
Heritage Action for America
The Honorable Bob McEwen
U.S. House of Representatives
Former Member, Ohio
Adam Brandon
President
FreedomWorks
William L. Walton
Chairman
CNP Action, Inc.
Jenny Beth Martin
Chairman
Tea Party Patriots Citizen Fund
Jessica Anderson
Vice President
Heritage Action for America
The Honorable Jim DeMint
United States Senate
Former Member, South Carolina
Lisa B. Nelson
President & CEO
ALEC Action
Ginni Thomas
President
Liberty Consulting
The Honorable James C. Miller III
Budget Director for President Reagan
The Honorable Charles J. Cooper
Former Assistant Attorney General, President Ronald Reagan
Cooper & Kirk, PLLC
The Honorable Mike Spence
Founding President
Conservative Republicans of California
Heather R. Higgins
President
Independent Women’s Voice
Quin Hillyer
Veteran conservative columnist
Elaine Donnelly
President
Center for Military Readiness
Eric Georgatos
President
“America, Can We Talk?” Multimedia Platform
Rick Manning
President
Americans for Limited Government
Jay Mount
President
MDS Communications
Kay R. Daly
President
Coalition for a Fair Judiciary
Christopher Malagisi
Editor in Chief
Conservative Book Club
The Honorable George K. Rasley, Jr.
Managing Editor
ConservativeHQ.com
Rod D. Martin
Founder and CEO
The Martin Organization, Inc.
Haley E. Martin
President
The Martin Foundation
Jerry Melvin
Former Dean
Florida House of Representatives
Sal Russo
Co-Founder and Chief Strategist
Tea Party Express
Tom Giovanetti
President
Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI)
Bob Adams
President
Revive America PAC
Col Francis X. De Luca USMCR(Ret)
President Emeritus
Civitas Institute
Susan A. Carleson
Chairman/CEO
American Civil Rights Union
Sean Noble
President
American Encore
Matthew Tyrmand
Principal
Matthew Tyrmand, LLC
The Honorable Mike Hill
Former Member
Florida State House
Dr. Frank Wright
CEO
D. James Kennedy Ministries
Donna Hearne
CEO
The Constitutional Coalition
Dr. Richard Rounsavelle
Trustee
Media Research Center
Roxanne Phillips
Member, Executive Committee
Council for National Policy
Darrel Johnson
President
Attic Corp
Dan Weber
President and Founder, Association of Mature Amerfican Citizens
Melvin Adams
Former President
Renewanation
Chad Connelly
President
Faith Wins
The Honorable Tom DeLay
Former Majority Leader
U.S. House of Representatives
Rob Chambers
Vice President
AFA Action
The Honorable Gary L. Bauer
President
American Values
Olivia Brown
Student
Arizona Christian University
Ron Pearson
Director
Conservative Victory Fund
Judson Phillips
Founder
Tea Party Nation
James L. Martin
Founder/Chairman
60 Plus Association
William H. Shaker
CEO
Washington Marketing Group
Dr. Rick Scarborough
Founder
Vision America Action
Frank J. Gaffney
President and CEO
Center for Security Policy
Brian Glicklich
CEO
Brace Digital Strategy
Dr. Russell J. Kilpatrick
Physician
USAF (Ret)
Paul Liberman
Executive Director
Alliance for Israel Advocacy
William W. Pascoe, III
Board Member
Tea Party Patriots Action
Jeremy Cerone
CEO
EliteSafe Inc.
Caroline C. Lewis
Owner
Percipio Communications
Allen Hebert
Chairman
American-Chinese Fellowship of Houston
James Hansberger
Chairman
Legal Immigrants for America
The Honorable Belden Bell
CoChair Legacy Society
The Heritage Foundation
Rebecca Hagelin
Secretary
Council for National Policy
Charlie Gerow
CEO
Quantum Communications
James N. Clymer
Former National Chairman
Constitution Party National Committee
Alfred S. Regnery
Chairman, Conservative Action Project
Chairman, Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund
Wesley Denton
Former Communications Director
Senator Jim DeMint (SC)
The Honorable T. Kenneth Cribb, Jr.
Former Chief Domestic Advisor
President Ronald Reagan
The Honorable Becky Norton Dunlop
Former White House Advisor
President Ronald Reagan
The Honorable Kenneth T. Cuccinelli, II
President
Senate Conservatives Fund
Cleta Mitchell, Esq.
Partner
Foley & Lardner LLP
David Bozell
President
ForAmerica
Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin (Ret.)
Executive Vice President
Family Research Council
The Honorable J. Kenneth Blackwell
Chairman
Constitutional Congress, Inc.
Ed Corrigan
Vice Chairman, Conservative Action Project and Former Executive Director, Senate Steering Committee
The Honorable David McIntosh
President
Club for Growth
- Brent Bozell, III
Founder and President
Media Research Center
The Honorable Donald Devine
Former Director
U.S. Office of Personnel Management
The Honorable Donald P. Hodel
Former Secretary of Energy
Former Secretary of Interior
Kevin Freeman
Host
Economic War Room
Floyd Brown
Chairman
Western Center for Journalism
Steve Berger
Pastor
Grace Chapel
Lou Cordia
Executive Director
Reagan Alumni Association
Michelle Easton
President
Clare Boothe Luce Center for Conservative Women
Bailey Amaral
Director
The Windrose Project
Tom Schatz
President, Council for Citizens Against Government Waste
Bob Carlstrom
President
The Carlstrom Group, LLC
Tim LeFever
Chairman
Capitol Resource Institute
Robert K. Fischer
Meeting Coordinator
Conservatives of Faith
Sherri R. Martin
Executive Vice President
The Martin Organization, Inc.
Shawn A. Mitchell
Former National Chaplain
National Federation of Republican Assemblies (NFRA)
Evelio Silvera
Campaign for the American Future
Kirk Uhler
Executive Director
National Tax Limitation Committee
Charlie Copeland
President
Intercollegiate Studies Institute
Lee Beaman
CEO
Beaman Automotive Group
The Honorable Diana Denman
Presidential Appointee
President Ronald Reagan
Willes K. Lee
President, National Federation of Republican Assemblies
Anne Schlafly Cori
Chairman
Eagle Forum
Peter J. Thomas
Chairman
The Conservative Caucus
Joan Holt Lindsey
President
Lindsey Communications
Seton Motley
President
Less Government
Nick Logan
CEO
Cornerstone Payment Systems
Randy M. Long
CEO
Long Business Advisors, LLC
Mark A. Bloom
President
TekGeologik LLC
Craig Dance
President
Champion Coach
John M. Cragg
Executive Director
Long Island Youth Mentoring
Ambassador Henry F. Cooper
President Reagan’s Chief Defense and Space Negotiator and Former SDI Director, High Frontier
Barry Meguiar
Founder/President
IgniteAmerica/Revival Outside the Walls
- Preston Noell III
President
Tradition, Family, Property, Inc.
Anthony Saliba
Director
Fortify Technolgies
John F. Tate
President
America’s Liberty PAC
Nancy Schulze
Founder
Women Impacting America
Jack Park
Conservative Activist and Donor
Norm Singleton
President
Campaign for Liberty
Saulius “Saul” Anuzis
President
60 Plus Association
Ralph Benko
Columnist
Khadine L. Ritter
Chairman
Eagle Forum of Ohio
Alan P. Dye
Partner
Webster, Chamberlain & Bean
The Honorable Michael R. Long
State Chairman
NYS Conservative Party
Sandy Rios
Director of Governmental Affairs
American Family Association
Jeffrey Mazzella
President
Center for Individual Freedom
Martha Boneta
President
VCS
Derek McCoy
Executive Vice President
Center for Urban Renewal and Education
Reginald Mark Gill
Author & Entrepreneur
Paavo Ensio
Chairman
Universal Minerals Group
Amapola Hansberger
President
Legal Immigrants for America
Matt Mackowiak
Executive Director
Fight For Tomorrow
Jason Jones
President
Movie To Movement
George Landrith
President
Frontiers of Freedom
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