Financial Services and General Government - Member Day

House Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government

2025-03-05

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Summary

This meeting of the Subcommittee of Financial Services and General Government convened to address significant concerns regarding the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) and its impact on federal operations and civil servants [ 00:10:51-00:10:56 ] . Representatives expressed alarm over Doge's lack of transparency, questionable authority, and the adverse effects of its policies on government agencies, employees, and the services they provide to the American public [ 00:22:31 ]

Themes

Concerns Regarding the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge)

Many speakers voiced strong criticism of Doge's formation and operations . Representative Steny H. Hoyer stated that Doge, along with key figures, has disrupted the federal government by acting without statutory authority, transparency, or regard for the law, specifically impacting the Treasury, IRS, OMB, White House budget, and GSA . He highlighted that Doge has sacked federal employees, caused security breaches of sensitive American data, and over-reported savings, with over 1,000 supposedly canceled contracts found to be inaccurate . Representative Sarah Elfreth explained that Doge's actions involve devastating cuts and arbitrary firings of probationary employees, disrupting communities and federal services [ 00:22:31 ]

. Representative Hillary J. Scholten raised concerns about Doge's significant authority and operations with minimal transparency, noting its funding from the U.S. Digital Service while its activities have expanded far beyond IT . She criticized the influence of an unelected billionaire, Elon Musk, in making decisions that impact taxpayer dollars . Representative Dina Titus urged against funding Doge, pointing out the uncertainty for federal employees and that many claimed efficiencies have proven false . Representative Melanie Stansbury, a former federal employee, asserted that Doge's creation by executive order and its activities are "not normal" and "not legal," violating constitutional separation of powers and appropriations law .

Impact on Federal Employees and Services

The speakers detailed the significant negative impact on federal employees and critical government services [ 00:22:31 ]

. Representative Elfreth highlighted that probationary employees were arbitrarily fired without cause, notice, or severance, leading to personal hardship for these "patriots" [ 00:23:10-00:24:00 ] . She announced plans to introduce a bill to protect reinstated probationary employees from having to restart their service time [ 00:24:18-00:24:23 ] . Representative Titus reported that over 200,000 probationary employees have been fired, including National Park Service staff at Lake Mead National Recreation Area, who play crucial roles in maintaining the park . She also noted staffing cuts at vital agencies like the U.S. Forest Service, CDC, USDA, IRS, and the Department of Veterans Affairs, which undermine essential services like fighting wildfires, combating disease, processing tax returns, and caring for veterans . Representative Val T. Hoyle described stalled infrastructure projects, job training programs, and fire mitigation efforts, and highlighted NOAA "hemorrhaging staff" and layoffs at VA hospitals [ 00:39:58 ] . Representative Glenn Frederick Ivey added that federal contractors are experiencing payment delays and layoffs, and critical NIH research on cancer, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's is being terminated, causing irreversible losses in time and resources [ 00:50:50-00:51:13 ] .

Congressional Authority and Oversight

A central theme was the assertion of Congress's constitutional authority and responsibility to oversee the executive branch [ 00:38:35 ]

. Representative Hoyer emphasized that Congress holds the "power of the purse," not the president, and has a duty to understand Doge's actions . Representative Scholten argued that Congress needs to scrutinize Doge's funding and activities and introduced the CLEAR Act to ensure public record requests and full accountability . The Honorable Nikki Budzinski underscored Congress's sole authority over the Postal Service, insisting it must not cede oversight to any other branch . Representative Val T. Hoyle stated that the administration is illegally ignoring the Impoundment Control Act by withholding approved funding, and urged the committee to use its tools—such as conditioning funding or defunding offices—to hold the executive branch accountable and protect workers from politically motivated attacks . Representative Stansbury reiterated that the Constitution clearly grants Congress the power of the purse and that Doge's actions violate appropriations law and the separation of powers, urging the committee to use every tool to rein in the administration's "reckless, harmful, and illegal activity" .

United States Postal Service (USPS) Concerns

The Honorable Nikki Budzinski specifically addressed proposals to fire the USPS Board of Governors, consolidate the Postal Service into the Department of Commerce, and privatize it [ 00:27:55-00:28:05 ]

[ 00:28:36-00:28:47 ] . She argued that the Postal Service's independence has made it one of the most trusted institutions and that privatization would harm employees, threaten reliable mail service, and lead to higher costs and delayed deliveries, especially in rural areas [ 00:29:08 ] . Budzinski also highlighted operational challenges, including the downsizing and consolidation of processing centers and the Local Transportation Optimization Plan (LTO), which the USPS Inspector General noted has "negatively impacted services to customers" [ 00:30:49 ] .

Tone of the Meeting

The tone of the meeting was overwhelmingly critical, concerned, and urgent [ 00:22:31 ]

[ 00:37:51 ] . Speakers expressed deep alarm over the perceived overreach, illegality, and lack of transparency of the "Department of Government Efficiency" (Doge) and its substantial negative impact on federal workers and critical government services . There was a strong emphasis on upholding congressional authority and the rule of law, coupled with frustration regarding the executive branch's perceived disregard for established legal processes and accountability . The overall sentiment conveyed a sense of crisis regarding the functioning of the federal government and the protection of its employees and services [ 00:22:37 ] [ 00:37:51 ] .

Participants

Transcript

Steny H. Hoyer

Either way. Okay.

David P. Joyce

Subcommittee of Financial Services and General Government will come to order. This is the first hearing of the 119th Congress. Members will have five legislative days with which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material into the record. I know I speak for Mr. Hoyer when I say thank you all for being here this morning. We'll now introduce and hear from our colleagues today. First is Congressman Sarah Elfrath representing Maryland's 3rd District. Did I hammer that? Okay, thank you. Val Hoyle, representing Oregon's 4th District, when and if she gets here. Congressman Hillary Shulton, representing Michigan's 3rd District. Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski, representing Illinois' 13th District. The inimitable Congressman Dena Titus, representing Nevada's 1st District, and also co-chair of the Cannabis Caucus. And Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury, representing New Mexico's 1st District. And I will recognize Mr. Hoyer for an opening statement.

Steny H. Hoyer

Mr. Chairman, thank you very much. This is for being here. Look forward to hearing from them. Mr. Chairman, as you and I have discussed, Given what is happening in government today, this committee has particular relevance in that so much activity is being done with the Treasury Department, particularly IRS, with OMB, with the White House budget, and Doge. I'm not sure where Doge comes. We'll find that out, I suppose. And with GSA, I just saw the list of buildings that they want to put up for possible sale. And for the past six weeks, Americans watched Donald Trump and Russell Vogt and Elon Musk and their Doge disruptors wreak havoc throughout the federal government. Doge has acted without my opinion and the court's opinion in many cases statutory authority, without transparency, without regard to the law, without any understanding of how their actions hurt the American people and crucially without any oversight from this Congress. I would hope, because I think we have that responsibility, as a first of the co-equals in government, the Article I agency, We have the responsibility to oversee, particularly in light of so many cases. I see this morning one of the first headlines I read was that the Supreme Court ruled that, contrary to Doge's direction or somebody's direction, federal US aid abroad could not be stopped by them.

Steny H. Hoyer

This ought to concern every member of this body, Mr. Chairman. I know you're concerned about it, and I expect many will express these concerns before us today. As the subcommittee that oversees Doge's funding, we have a duty to get to the bottom of what it is doing. Doge has sacked federal employees without knowing what they do. No sooner had Doge fired certain employees from health care providers for 9-11 first responders to workers who maintain our nuclear arsenal, then it had to start rehiring them because they were necessary. Uncredentialed Doge disruptors have forced their way into secure government systems. and taken the American people's highly sensitive data, including their social security numbers, home addresses, immigration status, credit card information, health records, IRS earning records, and more. Now, very frankly, we're not sure where that information went. If it went to private servers, however, that's clearly against the law. And we need to make sure that did not happen. We do not know the full extent of this breach because Doge continues to operate essentially out of the public eye. What little information they provide is dubious at best. And let me say as an aside, we heard a string of facts that must have taken five minutes about Social Security. Absolutely false. those folks are not being paid, unfortunately, because their computer operation is so old, if they strike them, it affects the whole system. So while they now no longer pay them, they're still on the rolls. And obviously, maybe some young kid, I don't know, got in there, saw they were on the rolls, hypothesized that they were still being paid. Not true. It didn't, and it would have taken five minutes to find out that that was not true.

Steny H. Hoyer

Doge has overreported its savings, as well, that the president mentioned yesterday, in billions, billions, and billions of dollars.

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