3d ago

House Democrat introduces bill to reinstate veterans fired from the federal government under Trump

apnews.com House Democrat introduces bill to reinstate veterans fired from the federal government under Trump

A freshman Democratic congressman is introducing a bill to protect the jobs of veterans working for the government amid mass firings by the Trump administration.

Yes, this is likely to fail, but one of the powers the minority has in a legislature is to introduce bills like this to remind people what the majority could have been doing

With republicans narrow majorities, it only takes a handful of defections to get things through. Doing stuff like this helps make more republicans squeamish and can help get those flips

11 comments

How about reinstating all of the employees, since they were fired illegally?
Maybe this has a 1% chance of passing instead of a 0% chance for "all," but democrats should stop building policy around republicans' expectations. This watered-down crap does nothing in the end.
- Since it's unlikely to pass, the real value is in getting Republicans' names attached to a "no" vote. Then Democrats can campaign to red areas and show how anti-veteran the Republicans have been this session, which plays a lot better in those areas than an "all" bill that doesn't mention veterans.
  
  But can Dems even force a vote on it?
- This is what Democrats do; after republicans tear things down dems leave people behind in an attempt to compromise. In response to the anti trans rhetoric the dems abandoned them and thought it would win them the election. Now they abandon swaths of federal workers to likely fail at saving a few of them. Democrats will leave everyone but billionaires behind if the moment is right for it.

This is what has to be done. You introduce a bill directly affecting veterans and make Trump admit he doesn't give a damn about them.

This is meant for the congressman's own benefit since he heavily leaned on his veteran credentials when he campaigned. But whether it's going to make a difference or not, I applaud the effort from a freshman nonetheless. Making a difference with a thousand cuts is still making a difference.

Yes, this is likely to fail, but one of the powers the minority has in a legislature is to introduce bills like this to remind people what the majority could have been doing
Generally, this is the case to a degree. But the problem is that in this case they're not reminding the majority of what they could be doing. In that case they'd be trying to push for things like healthcare reform. All they're doing is looking at what the GOP is doing and politely asking them to maybe do a little bit less of it.
With republicans narrow majorities, it only takes a handful of defections to get things through. Doing stuff like this helps make more republicans squeamish and can help get those flips
The people who head the committees that these bills go in front of before they're brought up for a vote are all people who are in safe Republican seats. Their whole purpose is to make sure these bills never even get out of committee and make sure that vulnerable republicans never have to be squeamish in the first place.
- There's plenty more than this, for instance from a few weeks ago
  To Hand Power 'Back to the People,' House Dems Propose Amendment to Reverse Citizens United
- No protest bills which might upset the donor class allowed.

Very brave of them to halfass resistance.

11 comments