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Mark DeSaulnier: Big Beautiful Bill And DOGE Made 'Core Government Functions' Less Efficient
Forbes Breaking News
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yesterday
At a House Education Committee hearing before the Congressional recess, Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA) spoke about TOPIC.
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00:00
With that, I yield to the ranking member for an opening statement.
00:04
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to all the witnesses for being here.
00:08
I also want to welcome one of the witnesses, Mr. Banducci, for coming back to the committee.
00:14
I know he served for many years on the Republican committee staff,
00:17
so I'll be interested to see what it's like on the other side.
00:22
The Department of Labor's Employee Benefit Security Administration, or EBSA for short,
00:26
is a vital agency charged with protecting workers' hard-earned health and retirement benefits.
00:35
EBSA oversees approximately 800,000 private retirement plans,
00:39
covering over 153 million people, 2.6 million health plans, and 514,000 other benefit plans.
00:48
Many significant laws are within EBSA's jurisdiction, and several more have been added in recent years.
00:54
Yet, despite EBSA's critical mission and growing responsibilities,
00:59
its funding and staffing have not kept pace.
01:03
EBSA has been essentially flat-funded for years,
01:07
and the Trump administration's fiscal year 2026 budget only makes things worse
01:12
by requesting 10 million less than last year's level.
01:16
The administration is effectively proposing a further cut of 20 million
01:19
by failing to extend bipartisan, no-surprises funding.
01:24
Inadequate funding has resulted in steep declines in full-time employees at EBSA.
01:29
We are incredibly fortunate to have Mr. Ali Kawar as one of our witnesses.
01:35
Welcome, Mr. Kawar.
01:37
This morning, he's worked at EBSA in various capacities for nearly 20 years.
01:42
His testimony details how EBSA's budget once supported over 960 employees
01:49
and how the Trump administration's recent budget would support just over 600.
01:55
Clearly, EBSA is being asked to do far more with much less.
01:59
But it is still delivering for workers and their families,
02:02
protecting their benefits and putting money back in their pockets
02:06
and is a good return on investment to high-road employers and the taxpayers.
02:11
In fact, in fiscal year 2024, EBSA recovered almost $1.5 billion in payments.
02:18
In a time when federal workers are being unfairly targeted and fired by the Trump administration,
02:23
it is even more important to recognize the value they provide
02:27
to American taxpayers and our constituents.
02:30
Every day, Americans get assistance from EBSA's benefit advisors,
02:35
who help workers navigate the complex issues with their plans.
02:40
They and all of EBSA's staff in D.C. and its regional and field offices
02:43
deserve our respect and appreciation during what I'm sure has been an incredibly challenging year
02:50
for them and their families.
02:52
I understand that today's hearing will focus on two bills that harm EBSA's ability to do its job.
02:58
Last year, committee Republicans opposed the Department of Labor's legally permissible,
03:03
yet rarely used common interest agreements in litigation.
03:07
I say rarer because, as Mr. Kawar notes in his testimony,
03:11
over the past 15 years, there were only 12 such agreements.
03:16
Let me repeat that.
03:17
Over 15 years, 12 such agreements.
03:20
Out of over 31,000 investigations.
03:24
Nevertheless, committee Republicans demanded that the Department's Inspector General
03:28
look into these rare agreements, and the IG agreed.
03:30
Rather than waiting for the results of the IG investigation,
03:34
they requested committee Republicans,
03:36
the request today in this hearing is rushing to judgment,
03:40
seemingly intent on advancing a one-sided bill
03:42
that goes way beyond common interest agreements
03:45
and severely limits EBSA's ability to communicate
03:48
with attorneys representing participants.
03:51
We all believe in efficiency,
03:53
and would be happy to work with the majority
03:55
to look at objective analysis
03:58
of how we make the program more efficient
04:00
for everyone, particularly employees.
04:04
The other bill relates to EBSA's enforcement activities.
04:07
We all share an interest in seeing that enforcement by federal agencies
04:10
is completed in a timely and, as I said, efficient manner.
04:14
That's in the best interest of all parties involved.
04:17
It should be nonpartisan, bipartisan.
04:19
If that's our shared goal,
04:21
then the best way to achieve it
04:22
is to ensure EBSA has the funding, resources,
04:25
and personnel necessary to do its job
04:28
and to wait for the IG's investigation.
04:30
What doesn't accomplish that goal
04:32
is a bill to add to EBSA's administrative burden
04:34
and require them to produce a biased report
04:39
that doesn't provide a complete picture of the agency's work.
04:43
These bills don't solve problems.
04:45
They create new ones
04:46
and strike at the heart of EBSA's mission.
04:49
As we've seen from the devastation
04:51
wrought in recent months
04:52
by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency,
04:55
DOGE,
04:55
and the catastrophic One Big Ugly Law,
04:58
our language,
04:59
which will leave at least 10 million Americans
05:02
without health insurance
05:03
and cut over a trillion for Medicaid,
05:05
undermining core government functions
05:07
does a disservice for the American people.
05:09
We can and should do better
05:11
and are willing to work in a bipartisan way
05:14
if we really want to improve oversight.
05:16
Thank you, and I yield back.
Recommended
1:30
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