A dangerous plan of the Senate Republicans would give Trump even more power

Senate Republicans are looking for a plan through their “great and beautiful bill” that would force new federal employees to pay traditional labor protections, an important reform that unions have denounced as “extortion. “

The measure presented at the end of last week by the National Security Committee and Government Affairs of the Senate reflects a similar Republicans of the Chamber of Representatives included in its version of the reconciliation bill that was approved last month. It would require federal workers to pay additional thousands of dollars in their government retirement plans every year unless they choose to be employed “at will” that can be fired without cause.

While the camera version would require the new hiring to pay an additional 5% of their salary to avoid being at will, the Senate version raises it to a huge 10%. Even those who renounce the protections of the civil service would still have to have another 5%, a measure not included in the Chamber’s bill.

In other words, a new federal worker with a salary of $ 50,000 would pay $ 2,500 in the retirement plan compared to a veteran employee. And if that new worker would like the same labor protections as the veteran, they would have to pay $ 5,000.

Republicans are still negotiating with each other on the legislation, which still needs to approve both the Chamber and the Senate identically before it can become law. But federal unions are alarmed at the possibility of such a massive change that undermines the civil service system, and how it could convert government employment into a loot system in which Trump can reward loyal ones and expel perceived enemies.

Everett Kelley, president of the US Government Employee Federation, described the legislation of the Senate “a great retaliation bill” that seeks to punish unions “for successfully defending our members and fighting the illegal attempts of this administration to erase our federal agencies.”

“According to this bill, federal employees will see their payment to take home and their fundamental rights in the workplace erased. And financial sanctions will be significantly higher for employees who wish to retain their rights,” Kelley said in a statement.

The only law of Big Beautiful Bill is massive legislation that involves much of the national agenda of President Donald Trump, including disproportionately directed tax cuts to the rich, the cuts of expenses aimed at programs for low -income Americans and an impulse in the financing of Trump’s immigration repression. Republicans are working with narrow majorities in both cameras, since they hope to take the legislation to Trump’s desk.

Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.), He chairs the National Security Committee and Government Affairs, said the part of his Senate Legislation Committee would direct $ 75 billion to border security. “The proposal also provides more than $ 24 billion in termination of unnecessary expenses and reforms to reduce costs in other parts of the government,” he said in a statement.

The unions see the proposals of the Chamber and the Senate as a way of stripping federal workers of their labor protections assembling the Federal Retirement Plan.

Roberto Schmidt through Getty Images

When employees retire, they receive an annuity based on their duration of service through the federal employee retirement system, or FERS. According to the current system, workers contribute a certain percentage of their payment check, 4.4% for those hired since 2014, and the federal government pays the rest.

Senate legislation would boost these contributions for new hiring up to 9.4% or 14.4%, a significant part of their income.

In its analysis of the Chamber Legislation, the Congress Budget Office estimated that Only a quarter of the new hiring I would pay a 5% surcharge to have civil service protections. That means that, over time, the federal workforce would go from one with strong job security to one in which employees could be fired for almost any reason, not even be loyal enough to the president.

Daniel Horowitz, legislative director of Cong, told News themezone last month that the proposal was “a great policy change disguised as a small budget provision.”

“There are 150 years of civil service rules that are being launched here and annulled,” said Horowitz. “Inclinates civil service.”

The highest retirement contributions are not the only change that federal workers would see in the Senate legislation. It also proposes to charge federal unions for their use of government equipment and buildings, as well as for the use of “official time.”

The Federal Union contracts allow union officials who are employees of the Government to dedicate a certain amount of their time at work to union businesses, such as handling complaints in the name of workers. The unions say it would be difficult for them to function without this “official time”, since federal workers cannot be forced to pay union fees and many choose not to do so. The union must represent all workers in the negotiation unit, whether they pay the fees or not.

According to the Senate’s proposal, the agencies would determine how much the unions owe them for the use of official resources and time, and those who do not pay in time would be downtown.

The Senate plan would also give the White House $ 100 million to search for cuts in federal agencies unilaterally. Trump has tried to reduce federal agencies without the contribution of Congress, which caused demands that have linked the president’s plans. The proposal would give Trump more margin of maneuver to reduced agencies and fire federal workers without legislators or courts verifying it.