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.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 10036 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

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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