Garcia presses administration witness on staffing cuts as union warns of service disruptions
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Summary
Ranking Member Garcia recounted constituent stories of federal workers losing jobs and funding, asked administration witness Mr. Shriver whether workforce impact analyses were done, and elicited a warning from union leader Ms. Greenwald that cuts are degrading essential services.
Ranking Member Garcia pressed an administration witness at a congressional hearing about whether officials analyzed the workforce effects of recent staffing reductions, saying constituents who serve in agencies from the Army Corps of Engineers to national parks face instability and job loss.
Garcia opened with a constituent account of a civilian manager at the Army Corps of Engineers who took a post before his daughter was born and, she said, ‘‘worked without pay’’ during a prior shutdown while facing repeated threats of furlough or termination. Garcia said those threats were continuing under administration policies tied to what she called Project 2025 and asked Mr. Shriver whether the administration conducted ‘‘serious workforce impact assessments’’ before implementing staffing changes. Mr. Shriver replied, "No, not to my knowledge," and added that he was not aware the public had seen such an analysis.
Garcia also described a second case: a worker hired for a permanent position at Olympic National Park funded through the Inflation Reduction Act. She said the administration later withdrew the IRA funding that supported the job, leaving the position unfunded and ultimately eliminated after six months, which contributed to remaining staff being stretched across large geographic areas.
Ms. Greenwald, introduced by Garcia as the president of one of the largest unions representing federal workers, warned the committee that cutting experienced staff and undermining labor protections ‘‘damages the services that Americans depend on.’’ She said losing employees wastes prior investments in training, deters applicants from public service careers and results in people going without services.
Garcia concluded by noting she represents about 27,000 federal workers in her district and said she was ‘‘scared for the future of our workforce, and scared for the safety of our country’’ if the administration did not change course. She yielded back at the end of her remarks.
The hearing record shows questioning focused on workforce stability, the withdrawal of grant-funded positions, and whether formal impact assessments accompanied staffing decisions. No formal votes or motions were recorded in the provided transcript excerpt.