© Alex Brandon/APRep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., supports the president's call for accountability, and says he has the bill to make it happen.
Republican lawmakers with a history of proposing or passing civil service reforms applauded President Trump for his call to ease the firing of federal employees across government, saying they would fight to ensure the changes occur legislatively.
In his State of the Union address to Congress on Tuesday night, Trump
proposed expanding the authorities agency leaders have to fire problematic employees. The president cited as an example the Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act he signed last year, which made it easier for the VA secretary to discipline employees and shortened the appeal process.
"Tonight, I call on the Congress to empower every cabinet secretary with the authority to reward good workers, and to remove federal employees who undermine the public trust or fail the American people," Trump said.
Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tenn., who chairs the House Veterans Affairs Committee and helped usher the 2017 law through the lower chamber, said he was pleased with the progress VA is making in enacting the measure and wants to see the reforms extended across government.
"Employees at VA and throughout the federal government want to work among the very best, and these accountability provisions have ensured that workers who don't live up to the high standards expected of those who serve America's veterans can be disciplined," Roe said. "I fully support President Trump's call to use the VA accountability bill as a model for instilling true accountability
through the rest of the federal government, and I look forward to working with my colleagues in Congress to make this a reality."
Comment: What a buffoon.