'That's A Big Accomplishment': Jared Moskowitz Ruthlessly Mocks Republicans

7 months ago

At a House Oversight Committee hearing on Wednesday, Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) ruthlessly mocked Republicans over their 'accomplishments'.

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Transcript

00:00 [Mr. Clay] Who is next? Mr. Moskowitz.

00:01 [Mr. Moskowitz] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for coming

00:07 today, Mr. Schreiber. I appreciate you coming.

00:09 We have been talking about productivity. And this is going to be it is a little awkward

00:17 when you want to disagree with someone on your side of the aisle. But I have to dramatically

00:22 disagree with my colleague, Ms. Crockett, who used data and statistics and facts to

00:29 claim that this is the least productive Congress in modern history.

00:33 First of all, this Congress removed a Speaker, which has never happened in the history of

00:40 the Republic. That is clearly a big accomplishment in the 118th. This Congress took 15 rounds

00:48 to even elect that Speaker that they then removed, which was historic in its own right.

00:55 And then they removed a member of their own party. That hadn't happened in 20 years, so

01:00 kudos to them. They have had a failed impeachment of a President. I don't think we have seen

01:05 that happen in a really long time.

01:08 This Congress did impeach a Cabinet Secretary, though, without meeting any constitutional

01:13 threshold. We haven't seen that happen in 150 years. This Congress wants to hold Merrick

01:19 Garland in contempt and then possibly arrest him. I don't think we have ever seen that

01:25 in the history of the Republic. We have seen a failed motion to vacate to remove a second

01:30 Speaker. Again, history in the 118th. And who could forget that this Congress, on behalf

01:36 of the American people, saved gas stoves and ovens and toasters and blenders and dishwashers

01:43 from the communist grip of energy standards.

01:47 So I think Ms. Crockett was pointing out that this is least productive. These seem to be

01:51 accomplishments on behalf of the American people that are clearly historic and may never

01:57 be repeated in another Congress.

02:01 With that, there was a lot of discussion about the CBO report. Who is the CBO, Mr. Shriver?

02:06 The Congressional Budget Office.

02:07 Okay, so those are our folks.

02:09 Correct, Congressman.

02:10 Okay. And it's nonpartisan.

02:12 Correct.

02:13 Okay. And you mentioned a report that they issued, right? That report, which I have here,

02:18 came out in April of 2024.

02:19 Yes, Congressman. That's the report I was referring to.

02:22 And even though it's nonpartisan, who controls the House in 2024?

02:25 I believe the Republican Party.

02:28 Okay, I believe you're correct. So on page 21 of that report, which is the congressional

02:33 report from the CBO, it specifically shows the difference between the private sector

02:39 and the federal government when it comes to teleworking. There's a chart, which I have

02:44 behind me, and I'm not going to do what Trump did and just circle Alabama, but I am going

02:53 to circle that area right there, right?

02:56 So we always constantly hear that we should run government like a business. This seems

03:03 to show, according to the congressional report, our report from April just a month ago, that

03:09 the private sector is teleworking more than federal employees. Is that what this chart

03:15 shows?

03:16 Congressman, that's how I read that chart, yes.

03:18 Oh, my God. So the federal government is actually outpacing the private sector. I'm sorry, the

03:25 private sector is actually outpacing us in teleworking. I mean, do you think, like, my

03:31 colleagues should file, like, a resolution of disapproval of the private sector because

03:37 of all of this teleworking that the private sector is doing?

03:39 Well, Congressman, I always think that the work arrangement should be aligned to what

03:44 best advances the mission of the agency, and this is the data I was referring to that shows

03:48 that federal workers are spending more time in the office than private sector right now.

03:53 Okay, so that attack about all this teleworking that federal employees, right, is really misinformation

04:00 because it's really -- we're below the private sector, but we're really keeping pace, right?

04:04 Would that be fair?

04:06 I think we're keeping pace, and I think, you know, consistent with what I've been testifying

04:12 to today. We have to keep evaluating it, right? Like, our North Star is providing the best

04:16 service to the American people, and we need to make sure that work arrangements like telework

04:20 are advancing that, and I think that they are.

'That's A Big Accomplishment': Jared Moskowitz Ruthlessly Mocks Republicans

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