On Monday, Washington Post Columnist Joe Davidson sat down with Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), who is officially resigning from his seat on Friday at 10 a.m. While Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Chaffetz consistently attacked federal employees and hard working Americans.
NFFE National President Randy Erwin had an opportunity to comment on the career of the ousted Representative, challenging his misguided view of the federal workforce and unions.
Rep. Chaffetz: “I’m frustrated the unions weren’t more willing participants in trying to find that balance to get rid of the truly bad apples. … I wish they had the same vision I have … I wish they could see that one bad apple would truly infect a thousand. I wish they were more concerned about protecting the mass of federal employees by getting rid of the one who is causing all the disruption. … They seem to protect every employee no matter what, and that hurts the whole.”
President Randy Erwin: “Our interest is in preserving due process so that good employees have the protections they need to do their jobs on behalf of the American people without fear of unfair or politically motivated reprisal,” he said. “Those protections are essential to the functioning of our democracy. Our union has no interest in rigging the system to insulate genuine problem employees from the possibility of removal. Nobody benefits from that. … It is safe to say that we do not share Representative Chaffetz’s vision for the federal workforce.”
