Dear Friend, 

Today, over 21,000 New Mexicans woke up and went to work for our federal government to serve our state and our nation. These civil servants are the cornerstone of how our government works - between distributing veterans’ and Social Security benefits to putting in the work to clean up legacy pollution, civil servants keep the wheels of our government turning to serve our communities.  

That’s why we must defend the civil service against attempts to endanger the jobs and livelihoods of our civil servants and undermine our democracy. The prior administration attempted to open the floodgates of politicizing the civil service by making it easier to fire the career experts who bring decades of experience to their public service and replace them with handpicked political operatives. 

I had the honor of spending the early days of my career working as a staffer for the White House Office of Management and Budget. I know firsthand the hard work and dedication it takes to serve our communities in these roles and how important it is that daily decisions are made to best serve our communities - that’s why I believe we have a duty to protect the over 21,000 federal employees in New Mexico, our neighbors who dedicate their careers to our communities.  

This week, I was proud to vote to pass the Preventing a Patronage System Act of 2021 (H.R. 302) to protect the rights and protections of our federal workers while ensuring that employment in our civil service system is based on the merit, dedication, and skills of our employees - not their political connections.  

Recently, we have witnessed the vital work of the January 6th Committee to hold accountable those who incited and participated in the attack on our democracy at the Capitol on January 6th. The Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack has my full support as they move forward with their investigation to ensure accountability, good government, and transparency for every New Mexican, and I urge you to tune into the Committee’s next hearing. 

Over the past year, I was also proud to vote to pass the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, the Protecting our Democracy Act, and the Freedom to Vote Act out of the House of Representatives. Now, I’m calling on the Senate to pass this critical legislation to support good government, protect the security of our elections, and expand access to the ballot box to ensure every community member can make their voice heard.  

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If I can be of any assistance to you or your family, please do not hesitate to reach out to me or my staff at (505) 346-6781. If you’d like to keep up to date on what I am working on in Washington on behalf of New Mexico’s First Congressional District and our communities, you can subscribe to our newsletter here, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. 

Sincerely, 

Melanie

Melanie A. Stansbury
Member of Congress