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.
Just before midnight, HASC took a recorded vote on the amendment and with a bipartisan 30 to 26 margin, the Norcross amendment was included in the House NDAA bill. Reps. Mike Turner (R-OH), Derrick Van Orden (R-WI), and Donald Bacon (R-NE) voted with all HASC Democrats to approve the amendment.
IFPTE also reached out to HASC Members to request they reject an amendment that would lift the moratorium on A-76 competitions to determine whether federal work is appropriate for outsourcing and privatization. That amendment was defeated by a 28-26 vote, with Rep. Bacon and Rep. Turner joining Democrats. IFPTE reminded Members of HASC that Congress passed a DOD and a government-wide A-76 moratorium in 2008 because “GAO reports and DOD Inspector General findings confirmed that DOD could not demonstrate cost savings from outsourcing, with promised savings from outsourcing often failing to materialize when compared to the hidden administrative costs, contract oversight burdens, and risks associated with loss of federal workforce capabilities.” The letter also mentions “the 2008 scandal of substandard and unsafe conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, which resulted from the flawed A-76 competition and outsourcing,” which exemplified the harm and waste that the A-76 created.
The House NDAA will now move to floor consideration and floor amendments. Meanwhile, the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) is scheduled to markup their NDAA bill on June 10 and 11. IFPTE is working to make sure there is bipartisan support for a Senate amendment similar to Rep. Norcross’s amendment.
Read IFPTE’s letter to HASC requesting support for Rep. Norcorss’s amendment here.
Read IFPTE’s letter to HASC requesting opposition to the amendment to lift the A-76 moratorium