Tag: Comer

  • Comer, Lee roll out bicameral bill to fast-track Trump’s government reorganization plans through Congress

    Comer, Lee roll out bicameral bill to fast-track Trump’s government reorganization plans through Congress

    FIRST ON FOX: House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer and Sen. Mike Lee are introducing bicameral legislation Thursday that would fast-track President Donald Trump’s federal government reorganizations plans through Congress, Fox News Digital has learned. 

    Comer, R-Ky., will introduce the Reorganizing Government Act of 2025 in the House Thursday, while Lee, R-Utah, will roll it out in the Senate.. 

    The legislation would ensure Congress takes an up or down vote on the plans submitted to Congress in order to “streamline government operations to better serve the American people.”

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    It also seeks to renew and extend presidential authority to propose executive branch reorganization plans through December 2026 and restores a reorganization authority that was last in effect in 1984. Congressional aides said the bill aims to “modernize and improve government efficiency.” 

    Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., will introduce the Reorganizing Government Act of 2025 in the House Feb. 13, 2025, while Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, will roll it out in the Senate. 

    Under the bill, Congress must vote on Trump’s proposed reorganization plans within 90 days by using an expedited process that cannot be filibustered.

    It also expands the president’s authority to include entire executive departments — not just agencies. 

    The bill does prohibit, however, reorganization that would increase the size of the federal workforce or its expenditures. 

    “Americans elected President Trump to reform Washington, and his team is working around the clock to deliver on that promise,” Comer told Fox News Digital, adding that the federal bureaucracy “has grown dramatically in size and scope, creating unnecessary red tape.” 

    “We must cut through the inefficiency and streamline government to improve service delivery and save taxpayers money,” he said, adding that “Congress can fast-track President Trump’s government reorganization plans by renewing a key tool to approve them swiftly in Congress.” 

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    “The Reorganizing Government Act of 2025 does just that,” Comer said. “We owe it to the American people to make government efficient, effective, and accountable.” 

    And Lee told Fox News Digital that the bicameral legislation allows the president to use his constitutional authority to reorganize federal agencies, “eliminate weaponization” and “right-size the government to better serve the American people.” 

    Sen. Mike Lee

    Sen Mike Lee, R-Utah, said the bicameral legislation allows the president to use his constitutional authority to reorganize federal agencies, “eliminate weaponization” and “right-size the government to better serve the American people.”  (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)

    “Congress cannot afford to sit on its hands in this fight,” Lee told Fox News Digital. “Reauthorizing presidential reorganization authority is the most comprehensive tool that the president can use to restore good governance to Washington.” 

    The bill comes amid a significant expansion in the federal government, which GOP lawmakers say has led to “inefficiencies, redundancies, and bureaucratic obstacles.” 

    Its introduction also comes amid a push from the White House to shrink the size of the federal government. 

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    Trump signed executive orders on his first day in office to do so. 

    The president also tasked Elon Musk to run the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to reduce government waste, cut the federal workforce and slash costs. 

    Elon Musk and President Donald Trump

    The president also tasked Elon Musk to run the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to reduce government waste, cut the federal workforce and slash costs.  (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

    The Office of Personnel Management offered employees across the federal government the option to resign with full pay and benefits through September in an effort to cut the workforce. Sources say at least 75,000 federal workers have taken the option to resign. 

    Meanwhile, DOGE has successfully canceled millions of dollars of government contracts that the administration says were a waste of taxpayer dollars. 

    A senior administration official told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that DOGE has worked with various agencies to cancel several contracts in the Social Security Administration, the Departments of Homeland Security and Labor, and several other areas. 

  • Comer ask sanctuary mayors to testify before committee

    Comer ask sanctuary mayors to testify before committee

    House Republicans are calling on sanctuary city mayors to testify next month about the policy’s impact on public safety and the refusal to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.

    U.S. Rep. James Comer, R-Tenn., chair of the GOP-controlled House Committee on Oversight and Reform, said he was launching an investigation into sanctuary cities across the United States to determine whether they have complied with federal immigration enforcement laws. 

    In a letter, he asked Michelle Wu, Brandon Johnson, Mike Johnston and Eric Adams, the mayors of Boston, Chicago, Denver and New York City, respectively, to provide documents and information related to the sanctuary policies of each city.

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    House Oversight and Accountability committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) speaks during a hearing with Commissioner of the FDA Dr. Robert Califf in the Rayburn House Office Building on April 11, 2024 in Washington, DC.  (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

    They were each asked to testify at a public hearing on the matter on Feb. 11. Fox News Digital has reached out to each mayor. 

    “On his first day in office, President Donald Trump took decisive actions to restore the rule of law,” Comer wrote on X. “It is now imperative that our immigration laws are enforced across the country and that criminal aliens are swiftly removed from our communities.”

    The letters said 12 states and hundreds of cities and counties across the country have sanctuary policies. However, Comer said the four cities singled out “stand out in their abject failure to comply with federal law.” 

    Michelle Wu speaks

    Boston Mayor Michelle Wu speaks during a campaign rally. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm, File)

    Sanctuary cities limit cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities. Supporters argue that enforcement of immigration is the job of the federal government. 

    Opponents say sanctuary policies harbor criminals, as well as those in the country illegally, and put the public, including illegal immigrants, at risk. 

    Adams has spoken out against criminal illegal immigrants, who he said put New Yorkers at risk. In addition, he has said he is willing to work with Trump Border Czar Tom Homan. 

    Eric Adams

    New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday said his administration has been coordinating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) with regard to deporting illegal criminal migrants.  (Luiz C. Ribeiro/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images and Selcuk Acar/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

    Meanwhile, Wu, the Boston Mayor, has said her city won’t cooperate with Trump’s mass deportation program, despite the region seeing a number of illegal immigrants with criminal charges released back onto the streets.

    “Elections have consequences, and the federal government is responsible for a certain set of actions, and cities, no individual city, can reverse or override some parts of that,” she told WCVB-TV in November. “But what we can do is make sure that we are doing our part to protect our residents in every possible way, that we are not cooperating with those efforts that actually threaten the safety of everyone by causing widespread fear and having large scale economic impact.”

    In a statement to Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for the City of Boston said: “We are proud that Boston is the safest major city in the United States. We have received the letter and are reviewing it.”

    Chicago Mayor Johnson has doubled down on his support of the city’s sanctuary policies. 

    “I find it unconscionable that this administration would attempt to create not just division but fear within our public schools,” Johnson said, referring to potential federal raids. 

    brandon-johnson

    Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson responds to a question during a news conference on Oct. 7, 2024, in Chicago.  (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

    He has directed city departments to “stand firm and uphold the local ordinance” in compliance with the Illinois Trust Act, which prohibits local law enforcement from assisting federal immigration enforcement efforts.

    Denver Mayor Mike Johnston has also supported sanctuary policies despite the presence of members of Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua in Denver and the suburb of Aurora.

    On Sunday, federal agents arrested 50 members of the gang in Colorado and seized drugs, weapons, and cash, authorities said. 

    In his first week after returning to the White House, Trump has rescinded multiple directives and has targeted illegal immigrants with criminal records in a series of raids.

    Tren de Aragua gang members outside an apartment door, background, Mayor Mike Johnston, inset

    Democrat mayor Mike Johnston. Denver is a sanctuary city. (Edward Romero and Getty Images)

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    Raids by agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have been reported in Colorado, New York City, Buffalo, N.Y., Boston, California, and Minnesota, with hundreds of illegal immigrants being detained. 

    In addition, deportation flights have also begun.