Press Releases

Rep. Don Beyer today hailed the passage of two measures to support the federal workforce, which were included in H.R. 2500, National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The bill, which passed in the House 220-197, included the legislative text of Rep. Carolyn Maloney’s Federal Employee Paid Leave Act, of which Beyer is a lead cosponsor. It also incorporated an amendment offered by Reps. Gerry Connolly and Don Beyer of Virginia and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton which would block the Trump Administration’s proposed elimination of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

“Passing the Federal Employee Paid Leave Act is a huge moment for the effort to provide paid leave to the American workforce,” said Beyer. “If the measure which just passed in the House becomes law, federal workers will be provided 12 weeks of paid family leave, which would go a long way to helping the United States catch up to the rest of the world. House Democrats also delivered on our promise to stop the Trump Administration’s poorly-conceived plan to dismantle OPM, over which it recently threatened the jobs of federal workers. Congress will not be bullied, and we will not ignore or allow bad, politically-motivated policies to go forward on our watch.”

Congressman Don Beyer represents nearly 87,000 federal employees, the largest number of any Member of the House of Representatives. The Senate companion version of his legislation to grant back pay to furloughed federal employees affected by the 2018-19 government shutdown was signed into law earlier this year.