In case you missed it, Rep. Barry Loudermilk (GA-11), Chairman of the House Administration Committee's Oversight Subcommittee, announced the investigation into the events of and after January 6, 2021 is entering a "new phase," with House Speaker Mike Johnson's strong support. 

As first reported by Fox News, the Oversight Subcommittee's investigation into the security failures leading up to and after January 6th is being led by Chairman Loudermilk with renewed vigor and support from Speaker Johnson. 

"Because the American people have a right to know what happened," said Rep. Loudermilk. "My main goal is to get the truth out there and give the American people the ability to make their own determination on this with facts — not with preconceived ideas or pre-determined narratives — but just the facts of what happened."

Read the full article here or click below.

Washington, D.C. (January 18, 2024) | This week, Rep. Barry Loudermilk (GA-11) released the following statement after multiple reports of a planned walk out this week by federal workers across nearly two dozen federal agencies, including the White House, the Pentagon, and the State Department, in protest of U.S. support for Israel:

“Federal workers who plan to walk off the job to protest our nation’s strong support for our ally Israel are abusing the trust of the American people and put more work on those who faithfully serve our country daily in a non-partisan and unbiased way. These individuals should be fired. However, under our current civil service employment system, firing someone, even for justifiable cause, is nearly impossible." 

“Good government requires having high quality employees who are empowered to do their jobs and fulfill their constitutional duties responsibly. That’s why my MERIT Act, which I have been working on passing in Congress for several years, is a good place to start in reforming our outdated civil service system. MERIT would create a more efficient and effective government that works for the people by modeling employee dismissal with that of the private sector, and lessening the time it takes to root out misconduct and poor performance.”

MERIT ACT Summary:

• Addressing misconduct and poor performance: The MERIT Act repeals the Chapter 43 special process for acting against poor performers and bad actors, which is unnecessarily time-consuming, and streamlines the Chapter 75 process for removal or suspension of employees and supervisors. The MERIT Act also permits agencies to remove a senior executive from the civil service for performance reasons, rather than merely demoting the individual to a non-Senior Executive Service (SES) position.
• Poor Performing Senior Executives: Current law incentivizes agencies to merely demote poor performing senior executives, the MERIT Act allows agencies to remove a senior executive from the civil service. 
• Recoupment of bonuses and awards: The MERIT Act authorizes agencies to order repayment of bonuses and awards when performance or conduct issues are discovered and it is determined the bonus or award would not have been paid had these issues been known at the time. 
• Felonious service: The MERIT Act affects the retirement benefits of employees who are removed based on a felony conviction based on actions taken in furtherance of official duties. The period of service during which the felonious activities occurred will be eliminated for purposes of any annuity computation.

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This week, Rep. Barry Loudermilk (GA-11) issued a video message to all those who faithfully gathered in our nation's capital for March for Life because they believe in one simple truth – that all life is sacred. 

"Protecting innocent human life should not be a partisan issue and, it shouldn’t be difficult. Every child is made in the image of God, and they must always be protected, defended, and cherished, said Rep. Loudermilk.

See the full video message here or click below.

This week, Rep. Loudermilk (GA-11) joined 74 of his colleagues on a bipartisan letter to House and Senate appropriations leaders requesting an H-2A visa guest worker wage freeze in an upcoming spending package. The “Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR)” or the required wage that farm employers must pay H-2A guest workers has more than doubled since 2005, making agricultural labor and its products increasingly unaffordable. It is set for its annual increase and is poised to go up by 7% this year after going up in Georgia last year by 14%.

Loudermilk and Members of Congress wrote, "USDA data shows that hired farm labor costs account for nearly 15 percent of total cash expenses. More labor-intensive industries will be hardest-hit, including specialty crop growers, who already spend nearly 40 percent of their total cash expenses on labor alone. If we do nothing, many of our constituents will be forced shutter their businesses, despite good-faith efforts to ensure our national food security and feed families across our nation." 

The full text of the letter to House and Senate Appropriations leaders is available here. 

As Congress works to develop a bipartisan tax package, Rep. Barry Loudermilk (GA-11) joined 17 of his colleagues on a bipartisan letter to House ways and Means Committee leadership expressing their strong support for the inclusion of a legislative fix for Form 1099-K reporting requirements that threaten to significantly raise bureaucratic hurdles for online sellers in the upcoming Ways and Means Committee markup.

Due to changes in the 1099-K reporting threshold, millions of Americans could soon be taxed for transactions like selling a bike or used clothes online because the threshold for receiving a 1099-K was lowered from $20,000 and 200 transactions to $600. This change did not take into account the millions of individuals selling used or pre-owned items for less than the original purchase price who won't even be receiving taxable income. Yet these transactions could trigger IRS reporting requirements, causing confusion and ultimately overreporting of income, which could result in mistaken overpayment or ineligibility for certain tax benefits.

Loudermilk and other lawmakers wrote: “While the IRS has issued a further postponement of the new $600 reporting threshold for payments made in 2023, a long-term legislative fix would provide much-needed certainty for online sellers. Unless Congress acts, once the current pause expires at the end of this year, millions of Americans will receive new and confusing tax forms for online transactions.”

Read the full letter here. 

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