The Hill: Public service, not presidential power grabs
Last week, I was elected in the first special election held since the so-called “big, beautiful bill” was signed into law. The voter turnout set a record for congressional special elections in Virginia and the 50-point margin shocked pundits. Although special elections don’t always reflect broader trends or predict future election results, in this case there are important lessons to be learned.
In Northern Virginia and the D.C. region, we are on the leading edge of President Trump’s economy. In my community, everyone knows someone who has lost their job due to the reckless agenda coming from the White House and, too often, from Congress.
If we do not change course, what is true in Northern Virginia today will soon be true in every district across this nation. Families everywhere will know someone who has lost their job because of the DOGE cuts, chaotic tariffs, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act , or this Congress’s failure to address rising costs on everything from groceries to rent to prescription drugs.
So what can Congress do to right the ship? We can start by reining in executive branch overreach and reasserting congressional authority. That is why, on my very first day in office, I introduced the Limit on Sweeping Executive Reorganization Act, legislation requiring that the president come to Congress for an up-or-down vote before implementing significant downsizing, restructuring or dismantling of federal agencies.
Congress — not a president and his billionaire oligarch — must have the final say when it comes to major reorganizations of our federal government. The stakes are too high to allow a single individual to rewrite the rules of governance and gut the civil service at will. Our system is built on checks and balances, not on whims, power grabs and self dealing. We owe it to the American people to defend our institutions and ensure the government works for them, not against them.
This bill is simple: Any attempt to slash an agency budget by 10 percent or more, lay off more than 5 percent of an agency’s work force, or eliminate core government functions must receive explicit congressional approval. It protects transparency, defends workers and preserves the merit-based civil service that has served Americans for over a century.
Federal employees are not faceless bureaucrats. They are the scientists fighting climate change, the nurses caring for veterans, the air traffic controllers keeping our skies safe, the researchers discovering cures and the inspectors protecting our food and water. They are patriots — they should not be treated as pawns in a political game. Their work affects the health, safety and prosperity of every American.
Though Elon Musk may no longer occupy an office in the West Wing, DOGE is still dangerous because it threatens not only the people who work in government but also the people that government exists to serve. Federal workers make our government work in every corner of the nation. In fact, 85 percent of the federal workforce is spread across every state and congressional district, serving communities large and small, rural and urban. Most are not in the D.C. metropolitan region. When you attack them, you attack every American family, school, hospital and business that relies on a functioning government.
Federal service should be based on merit, not MAGA. If Trump and his billionaire backers think they can hijack our government for their own gain, they have picked the wrong fight.
This fight is not partisan. It’s about accountability, democracy and the integrity of government itself. Every citizen deserves a government that works for them, not one that is weaponized for political or personal gain. Every American benefits when the federal workforce can do its job without fear of political retaliation or chaos. From airports to laboratories, from VA hospitals to border inspection stations, our government functions because dedicated public servants show up every day, ready to serve. If the president wants to put them out of work, he should come to Congress and explain why.