Today Congressman Beyer joined volunteers in the World Central Kitchen in Washington, D.C., to serve food to federal employees impacted by the ongoing government shutdown. The shutdown, now in its second month, is the longest in US history. “I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Rep. Beyer. “Having people who should be working in good jobs standing in a line in the freezing cold that wrapped around a building just to get hot meals is like something from the Great Depression, but the crisis i... Read more

Today 124 Members of the House of Representatives led by Reps. Don Beyer (VA), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Betty McCollum (D-MN), Andre Carson (D-IN), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) introduced the Freedom of Religion Act to prohibit religious discrimination in our immigration system. The legislation was originally introduced in 2016 by Rep. Beyer in response to then-candidate Donald Trump’s Muslim Ban proposal, a version ... Read more

Rep. Pete Olson (TX-22), Rep. Don Beyer (VA-08) and Rep. Ed Perlmutter (CO-07) today acted to provide relief to federal employees affected by the partial government shutdown by introducing H.R. 545, the Financial Relief for Feds Act. This bill will allow federal employees and contractors to withdraw funds from their retirement accounts without being penalized. Original cosponsors of H.R. 545 include Reps. Randy Weber (TX-14), David McKinley (WV-01), David Trone (MD-06), Kendra Horn (OK-05), Coll... Read more

Today the House of Representatives passed the Senate companion version of legislation offered by Rep. Don Beyer to guarantee back pay to federal employees affected by the partial government shutdown. The House approved the bill with near-unanimous support from both parties. “This bill is a critical step towards undoing some of the damage caused by the government shutdown,” said Rep. Beyer. “While this legislation will provide federal employees with the certainty that they will eventually be paid... Read more

Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) announced today that he has received an appointment to the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, one of the five exclusive House committees. Ways and Means has a wide breadth of jurisdiction, including health care, trade policy and tariffs, and oversight of Medicare and Social Security. It is the House Committee directly responsible for writing tax legislation, and the oldest standing committee in the United States Congress. Beyer said: “I am thrilled to accept this appo... Read more

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today reintroduced her bill to guarantee back pay to low-wage federally contracted retail, food, custodial and security service workers not getting paid during the current federal government shutdown (fiscal year 2019). Norton introduced a version of the bill during the last government shutdown, and has introduced it in past Congresses whenever a threat of a government shutdown loomed. She said she was particularly pleased to introduce her bill with the... Read more

Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) today hailed House passage of the legislative text of his bill to give back pay to federal employees in agencies affected by the partial government shutdown, which was included in a larger appropriations package that passed the House of Representatives last night with bipartisan support. He also addressed President Trump’s threat to continue his government shutdown for “months or even years.” Beyer said: “Federal workers are used to being treated horrendously by this Presid... Read more

Democrats from the National Capital Region today announced that they have secured the removal of the Holman Rule from H. Res. 6, the Rules package for the 116th Congress. The Holman Rule allows restrictions on federal offices and programs, including the reduction of individual salaries, to be added to must-pass appropriations legislation. Majority Leader-elect Steny Hoyer, Reps. Gerry Connolly, Don Beyer, Anthony Brown, Jamie Raskin, Reps.-elect Jennifer Wexton and David Trone, and Congresswoman... Read more

Congressmen Don Beyer and Gerry Connolly today wrote to the Administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA) seeking fixes to problems identified by a General Accountability Office investigative report into asbestos in federal buildings. The report found that the GSA has failed to abide by its own tracking and recording guidelines, including the operation of a tracking database called IRIS, which tracks asbestos surveys in GSA-owned buildings constructed prior to 1998. The Representati... Read more

Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) and Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA) today will introduce the Federal Employee Retroactive Pay Fairness Act, legislation to guarantee back pay to furloughed workers in the event of a government shutdown. Funding for the federal government expires at midnight tomorrow. “We do not want a government shutdown, but if it comes our bill would protect federal workers from the worst of the consequences,” said Rep. Beyer. “This legislation is designed to shield civil servants, who need to su... Read more