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Office of the 11th Congressional District of Virginia
Formerly the Office of Representative Gerry Connolly
The Washington, D.C., office and the district office of former Representative Connolly will continue to serve the people of the 11th Congressional District of Virginia under the supervision of the Clerk of the House of Representatives. Representative Connolly passed away on May 21, 2025. See Press Release

Oversight Committee Democrats Expand Investigation into President Trump’s Sweeping Efforts to Purge and Politicize the Federal Government

Washington, February 3, 2025

Today, Rep. Gerald E. Connolly, Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, led all Committee Democrats in sending a letter to President Donald Trump, demanding the President cease his purge of nonpartisan civil servants, including career professionals and independent government watchdogs.  This action comes after repeated outrageous attacks by the Administration against federal employees and agency operations over the past two weeks.  This letter is in addition to Committee Democrats’ insistence that President Trump and Elon Musk rescind their illegal “deferred resignation” scam offer to federal employees.

“We write to demand that you cease your purge of non-partisan, civil servants, including career professionals and independent government watchdogs, which will have catastrophic results for the American people who rely on our government for services and benefits.  In what appears to be a rapid and sweeping attempt to expand presidential and executive branch power, you are attempting to politicize the federal workforce, weaponize career professionals in the Senior Executive Service (SES), freeze federal hiring and purge new employees, dismantle civil rights and diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility programs, and attempt to illegally remove independent inspectors general.”

In their letter, the Members cited the Committee’s legislative jurisdiction over the federal civil service, including intergovernmental personnel and the status of officers and employees of the United States, including their compensation, classification, and retirement.  The Committee also has legislative jurisdiction over the Inspector General Act of 1978.

To help determine the instances in which the Trump Administration has violated the law or where the law should be amended to prevent abuses of power by the President or executive branch officials, Committee Democrats urged immediate responsiveness to the detailed requests for information and documents included in their letter.

Click here to read the letter.