[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 10036 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 10036
To direct the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a
study on the impact of Federal reductions in force and other Federal
civilian workforce reduction efforts on constituent services, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
August 3, 2026
Ms. Pettersen (for herself, Mr. Moulton, Ms. Ansari, and Ms.
Strickland) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a
study on the impact of Federal reductions in force and other Federal
civilian workforce reduction efforts on constituent services, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Constituent Services Impacts of
Federal Workforce Firings Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Many Federal agencies provide essential constituent
services, including processing benefits, responding to casework
inquiries, administering grants, conducting outreach, and
maintaining public facing operations.
(2) Federal reductions in force may significantly alter
agency staffing levels, affecting the delivery of constituent
facing services across the Federal Government.
(3) Workforce reductions may increase service backlogs,
lengthen processing times, reduce access to in person or
telephone assistance, and diminish the overall responsiveness
of agencies to constituents.
(4) Reductions in force may disproportionately affect
agencies with high volumes of public interaction, including
those administering Social Security, veterans benefits,
immigration services, tax administration, and disaster
assistance.
(5) There is currently no comprehensive Federal assessment
of how reductions in force affect constituent services, service
delivery performance, or the ability of agencies to meet
statutory and mission critical obligations.
(6) During and after a reduction in force, agencies may be
unable to provide timely information or case specific responses
to Members of Congress or congressional staff, impairing the
ability of Congress to assist constituents in resolving issues
involving Federal programs.
SEC. 3. GAO STUDY ON IMPACT OF REDUCTIONS IN FORCE ON AGENCY
CONSTITUENT SERVICES.
(a) In General.--The Comptroller General of the United States shall
conduct a comprehensive study on the impacts of reductions in force on
constituent services provided by Federal agencies.
(b) Scope of Study.--Such study shall examine, at a minimum--
(1) changes in constituent service performance metrics
following a reduction in force, including--
(A) processing times for benefits, claims, and
applications;
(B) casework responsiveness and resolution rates;
(C) call center wait times and service
availability; and
(D) public facing operational capacity, including
field office hours and staffing;
(2) impacts on service backlogs and delays across agencies
with significant constituent interaction;
(3) effects on agencies ability to meet statutory deadlines
or mission critical service obligations;
(4) operational and administrative challenges faced by
agencies in maintaining constituent services during and after a
reduction in force;
(5) differences in impacts based on--
(A) size and scale of the reduction in force;
(B) geographic distribution of affected employees;
and
(C) agency mission, service volume, and workforce
composition;
(6) historical case studies of significant reductions in
force occurring within the previous 20 years and their effects
on constituent services;
(7) strategies used by agencies to mitigate service
disruptions;
(8) the extent to which reductions in force impede
agencies' ability to respond to congressional casework
inquiries, including situations in which agencies cannot
provide necessary information for Members of Congress to assist
constituents;
(9) whether an agency changed the definition of a backlog,
completed case, processing time, service target, or other
performance measure before or after the workforce reduction;
(10) whether the agency reduced or restricted access to
services, including shorter office hours, fewer appointments,
abandoned calls, website problems, or people being turned away
before a case was formally opened;
(11) error rates, appeals, reversals, reopened cases,
repeat contacts, missed inspections, and whether an issue was
actually resolved rather than simply closed;
(12) workload effects on the employees who remain,
including caseloads, overtime, leave denials, burnout, morale,
safety issues, and subsequent resignations or retirements;
(13) whether work was shifted somewhere else, including to
another agency component or contractors;
(14) the full cost of the reductions in force, including
overtime, contracting, severance, relocation, litigation,
rehiring, and retraining, rather than just the initial payroll
savings;
(15) localized impacts, including at field offices,
geographic regions, occupations, or programs;
(16) longer-term impacts, including institutional knowledge
loss and increased attrition; and
(17) whether the mitigation efforts were sustainable or
depended on overtime, deferred work, reduced quality control,
or employees temporarily absorbing additional duties.
(c) Consultation.--In conducting the study, the Comptroller General
shall seek to consult with--
(1) Federal agencies with substantial constituent service
responsibilities;
(2) the Office of Personnel Management;
(3) labor unions representing Federal employees; and
(4) public administration experts, service delivery
researchers, and workforce analysts.
(d) Data Sources.--The study may use administrative data, surveys,
performance metrics, economic modeling, and publicly available service
delivery statistics.
(e) GAO Report.--
(1) Deadline.--Not later than 18 months after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall submit
a report on the study conducted under subsection (a) to--
(A) the Committee on Oversight and Government
Reform of the House of Representatives;
(B) the Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs of the Senate;
(C) the Committee on Education and Workforce of the
House of Representatives; and
(D) the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and
Pensions of the Senate.
(2) Contents.--The report shall include--
(A) findings and analysis from the study,
including--
(i) an assessment of how reductions in
force affected constituent service delivery
across agencies;
(ii) identification of agencies
experiencing the greatest service disruptions;
(iii) evaluation of whether reductions in
force improved or impaired agency efficiency;
and
(iv) recommendations for statutory or
administrative changes to strengthen
constituent service continuity during workforce
reductions;
(B) projected short term and long term impacts of
reductions in force on constituent services;
(C) policy options for Congress to consider,
including potential Federal assistance, coordination
mechanisms, or service continuity planning tools to
address any identified delays in constituent services
resulting from reductions in force; and
(D) an evaluation of how a reduction in force-
related staffing shortages affected agencies' ability
to respond to congressional casework inquiries and
provide information necessary for Members of Congress
to assist constituents.
(3) Public availability.--The Comptroller General shall
make the report publicly available on the website of the
Government Accountability Office.
(f) Definitions.--In this Act--
(1) the term ``constituent services'' means services
provided by Federal agencies, including processing benefits,
responding to casework inquiries, administering applications,
providing public information, responding to inquiries and
requests from Congress, and maintaining public facing
operations; and
(2) the term ``reduction in force'' means--
(A) a reduction in force under subchapter I of
chapter 35 or section 3595 of title 5, United States
Code; and
(B) any other significant downsizing action with
respect to the Federal civilian employees, including
the Deferred Resignation Program, the mass termination
of probationary employees, the use of the Voluntary
Early Retirement Authority and Voluntary Separation
Incentive Payments, hiring freezes, non-renewal of term
or temporary employees, and forced relocations or
directed reassignments leading to separation.
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