Posts in Government
House Bill to Cut Veterans Benefits and Privatize VA Services Loses Support and Is Pulled Moments Before Floor Vote -- Read Union Letter to House Lawmakers Opposing Bill
House Bill to Cut Veterans Benefits and Privatize VA Services Loses Support and Is Pulled Moments Before Floor Vote -- Read Union Letter to House Lawmakers Opposing Bill

This week, the ill-named "Taking Care of America's Veterans Act," H.R. 9237, was stopped from passing in the House of Representatives after a "motion to recommit" showed that enough Republicans would join with Democrats to oppose and defeat the bill on the House floor. The AFL-CIO letter, signed by IFPTE, opposed the bill because it "cynically packages long-sought, well-deserved new benefits for disabled veterans with benefit cuts to other veterans and a slew of provisions designed to further privatize the VA healthcare system."

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GovernmentFaraz KhanVeterans
Rep. Goldman, Sen. Schumer, Sen. Gillibrand, Other Lawmakers Request Investigation of Army Corps Office Relocations That Harms IFPTE Local 98 Members' Work, Result in Workforce Attrition
Rep. Goldman, Sen. Schumer, Sen. Gillibrand, Other Lawmakers Request Investigation of Army Corps Office Relocations That Harms IFPTE Local 98 Members' Work, Result in Workforce Attrition

Late last week, Congressman Dan Goldman, Senator Chuck Schumer, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, and several other lawmakers in the New York delegation requested the Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigate whether the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' (USACE) decision to relocate the agency’s offices out of New York City complies with legal and regulatory obligations and authorities. Read the press release from Rep. Goldman's office here.

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Government, Infrastructure, Labor RightsFaraz KhanUSACE, Army Corps, New, Ga, IFPTE Local 98
IFPTE Letter Supporting House WRDA Bill Cites Favorable Provisions on Boundary Realignment and Cites Concerns about Wasteful Army Corps Office Relocations and Lack of Transparency
IFPTE Letter Supporting House WRDA Bill Cites Favorable Provisions on Boundary Realignment and Cites Concerns about Wasteful Army Corps Office Relocations and Lack of Transparency

This week, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee (T&I) and the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee both passed their respective Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) bills with unanimous bipartisan support. 

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Government, Infrastructure, Labor RightsCandace RhettWRDA, USACE
NAIJ/IFPTE Judicial Council 2 President Shares Union's Perspective On Mass Firings, "Whipsaw by Politics," and Structural Issues of Immigration Court
NAIJ/IFPTE Judicial Council 2 President Shares Union's Perspective On Mass Firings, "Whipsaw by Politics," and Structural Issues of Immigration Court

Speaking in her capacity as President of the National Association of Immigration Judges (NAIJ), IFPTE Judicial Council 2, Judge Holly D’Andrea talked to The New York Times’ The Daily podcast to discuss the political, structural, and resource pressures that the immigration judges and the the immigration court faces.

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Immigration, GovernmentFaraz KhanNAIJ, immigration judges
IFPTE Thanks Rep. Norcross and House Armed Services Committee Members For Approving FY27 NDAA That Restores Bargaining Rights at DOD
IFPTE Thanks Rep. Norcross and House Armed Services Committee Members For Approving FY27 NDAA That Restores Bargaining Rights at DOD

On Thursday, the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) held a full committee “markup” where Representatives on HASC voted on amendments to the bill past midnight.  IFPTE weighed in with a letter requesting HASC Members vote to approve Rep. Donald Norcross’s (D-NJ) amendment to nullify the Department of Defense’s implementation of EO 14251, which strips bargaining rights of over 1.3 million federal workers, including 750,000 at DOD.  

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Government, Labor RightsFaraz KhanNDAA, EO 14251, DOD, collective bargaining
US Army Corps of Engineers Ordered to Abandon Its NYC Offices for Costly Commercial Office Space in NJ By the End Of 2026
US Army Corps of Engineers Ordered to Abandon Its NYC Offices for Costly Commercial Office Space in NJ By the End Of 2026

“The Army Corps has played an important role in New York City since before the nation’s founding,” says Matt Biggs, International President of IFPTE, in a statement made prior to the press conference, “The Army calls it the Cradle of the Corps. A move out of this city would rock the cradle.”

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Government, InfrastructureFaraz KhanUSACE, New York, Local 98, Local 777