1. United States
2. Mo.
3. Letter

I am writing to you because I am deeply angry and increasingly alarmed by what is happening to the federal government and the people who dedicate their careers to serving this country. The latest reporting on the devastating staffing cuts at federal statistical agencies is yet another example of what happens when an administration treats the federal workforce as something to be dismantled rather than an essential institution that protects the American people. All 13 principal federal statistical agencies have experienced staffing cuts under this administration. Six have lost at least one third of their employees, while two have lost more than two thirds of their workforce. These cuts are already threatening the government’s ability to produce timely, accurate and reliable information about our economy, education, agriculture, employment and other conditions affecting Americans every single day. This is not efficiency. This is the destruction of institutional knowledge and government capacity. I condemn the actions and policies being pursued by Russell Vought, Scott Kupor and this administration. They have repeatedly treated career federal employees as disposable, created enormous uncertainty throughout the civil service and pushed policies that are weakening the very agencies Americans depend on. Federal employees are not the enemy. They are Americans who go to work every day to administer Social Security, protect consumers, enforce labor laws, collect and analyze economic data, protect our food supply, conduct scientific research, safeguard our communities and perform countless other functions that keep this country operating. When you eliminate experienced employees, leave critical leadership positions vacant and dismantle programs that took decades to build, you do not magically create a more efficient government. You create a government that is less capable of serving its citizens. The consequences are already becoming apparent. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has reduced staffing, leadership vacancies remain across statistical agencies and important data products have been delayed, suspended or eliminated. The National Center for Education Statistics was reduced from roughly 100 employees to only four at one point. And the consequences do not stop with statistics. The same philosophy of indiscriminate cuts, intimidation, restructuring and disregard for the federal workforce is being applied across the government. Federal employees are being traumatized by constant uncertainty over their jobs, reorganizations, relocations, return to office mandates, reductions in force and attacks on the civil service protections that were created to prevent government employment from becoming a political patronage system. This should concern every member of Congress, regardless of political party. Congress has a constitutional responsibility to provide oversight and hold the executive branch accountable. I am asking you to stop sitting quietly while this happens. Stand up. Speak out. Demand hearings. Demand answers. Defend the federal workforce and defend the institutions that Americans depend upon. Do not tell your constituents that these decisions are simply about efficiency. We can see the consequences. We can see agencies losing experienced employees. We can see essential programs being weakened. We can see the uncertainty and fear being inflicted on federal workers. And we can see the damage being done to the government’s ability to function. I am also asking you to make your position publicly known. Your constituents should not have to guess whether you believe these actions are acceptable. Tell us where you stand. If you believe these agencies are essential, then fight for them. If you believe federal employees deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, then say so publicly. If you believe the executive branch is exceeding its authority or abusing the federal workforce, then use your position in Congress to hold it accountable. Because silence is not leadership. And eventually, voters will have to decide whether their representatives actually represented them when it mattered. I am telling you plainly: your constituents are watching. People want to know whether you will stand up when federal institutions are being dismantled and federal employees are being treated as political targets. They want to know whether you will defend competent government and the people who make it work. If you remain silent while this administration continues to hollow out federal agencies, intimidate career employees and undermine the government’s ability to serve the public, then you should not be surprised when voters remember that silence at the ballot box. Stand up now. Speak out now. Show your constituents that you care about the people who work for this country and the people who depend on the services they provide. Because if you will not fight for them when it matters, they will have every reason to ask why they should continue fighting for you at election time.