Democrats Propose Legislation to Reinstate Fired Probationary Federal Workers

House Democrats have also called for OPM to hand over documents related to the decisions to fire probationary employees.

Rep. LaMonica McIver speaks at a press conference.

Rep. LaMonica McIver is introducing the Model Employee Reinstatement for ill-advised Termination Act. Tom Williams/AP

House Democrats believe they’ve found a response to Republicans’ claims that firing federal workers is simply a return to merit-based employment in the government.

New Jersey Rep. LaMonica McIver will introduce a bill Tuesday that, if passed, would reinstate jobs and offer backpay to all probationary employees who were fired under the Trump administration’s directives to federal agencies, according to a copy of the legislation shared exclusively with NOTUS.

She’s calling the bill the Model Employee Reinstatement for ill-advised Termination Act — an apparent reference to a bill Republican Rep. Barry Loudermilk proposed in January to make it easier to fire federal workers. Loudermilk’s bill is the Modern Employment Reform, Improvement, and Transformation Act, or MERIT Act.