July 19, 2018, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement urging House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to get legislation by U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), H.R. 559, the MERIT Act, on the floor of the House for a vote before members go on summer vacation:
“House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy has been a strong supporter of the MERIT Act. Now he needs to use his position as majority leader to get a vote on the floor of the House before the lower body goes on summer August recess. This should be an easy vote, whereby Congress will give the same powers that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs has already been granted by Congress on a bipartisan basis to fire federal employees on an expedited basis who are either not performing or who engaged in misconduct. That is something that resonates with the American people who see unaccountable, rogue government bureaucrats and agents undermining the President on a daily basis, and is something members should be able to say they did when they go home to campaign.
“Most importantly, this is not just a show-vote, but instead the Senate Democrats have already voted in sufficient numbers to pass similar language just last year, so it is passable, common-sense legislation. But if the Majority Leader fails to get it to the floor and passed before recess, the chances for Senate action diminishes as their calendar gets consumed by the Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination. The MERIT Act matters, it has enjoyed bipartisan support, and now the House needs to do their job and get it through to the Senate before they hit the beach for August.”
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