1. United States
2. Mo.
3. Letter

I am writing once again because the damage being inflicted on our federal agencies and federal workforce by this administration has become impossible to ignore. I am asking you to condemn the actions of Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought and this administration and to use the authority Congress possesses to protect the institutions and public servants Americans depend on. The latest reporting on our federal statistical agencies should alarm every member of Congress. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, Census Bureau, National Center for Education Statistics, National Agricultural Statistics Service, and other critical agencies have suffered severe staffing losses. Experienced career employees have been pushed out, leadership positions remain vacant, and those who remain are being asked to carry workloads that previously required multiple people. This is not responsible government reform. It is the systematic weakening of the federal government and its ability to serve the American people. Russell Vought has been one of the central architects of an agenda that treats career federal employees and the agencies they serve as obstacles rather than essential components of a functioning democracy. Across the federal government, we have watched employees face layoffs, workforce reductions, attacks on collective bargaining rights, forced relocations, arbitrary workplace policies, and constant uncertainty about whether their jobs and agencies will even exist tomorrow. Federal employees are not the enemy. They are the people who administer Social Security and Medicare, support veterans, inspect our food, protect consumers, collect economic and population data, enforce our laws, respond to disasters, conduct scientific research, and perform countless other functions Americans rely upon every day. Destroying institutional knowledge does not make government more efficient. Eliminating experienced employees does not improve public service. Leaving agencies chronically understaffed does not save Americans from government dysfunction; it creates government dysfunction. The consequences described in this latest report are especially disturbing because reliable federal statistics are fundamental to our economy and democracy. Businesses, state and local governments, researchers, policymakers, financial markets, and ordinary Americans rely on objective federal data. When agencies responsible for producing that information lose enormous portions of their workforce and institutional expertise, the consequences extend far beyond Washington. Congress cannot continue watching this happen from the sidelines. The Constitution gives Congress enormous authority over federal spending, agency operations, oversight, and the laws governing the federal workforce. I am asking you to use that authority. Demand accountability from Russell Vought and administration officials responsible for these policies. Conduct meaningful oversight. Protect federal agencies from politically motivated dismantling. Restore adequate staffing and funding. Defend career civil servants and their collective bargaining rights. And refuse to support policies that further hollow out the institutions Americans have spent generations building. There must also be accountability for the human cost of these decisions. Federal employees have families, mortgages, careers, and communities. They entered public service to serve their country. They deserve dignity and stability, not to be treated as disposable political targets. This is bigger than any political party. Presidential administrations come and go, but the federal government must remain capable of serving the American people. Once decades of institutional knowledge and expertise are driven out of an agency, they cannot simply be recreated overnight. I am asking you to decide what role you want Congress to play in this moment. Will Congress defend its constitutional authority and the institutions Americans depend upon, or will it stand by while those institutions are dismantled? Please publicly condemn Russell Vought and this administration’s continued attacks on federal agencies and federal employees, and take concrete legislative and oversight action to stop further damage. Federal employees and the American people deserve representatives who will stand up for them when it matters most.