CSS Opposes the Reorganizing Government Act of 2025 (H.R. 1295)

March 24, 2025 | Download PDF

Representative James Comer, Chairman
Representative Gerald E. Connolly, Ranking Member
House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
2157 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

CC: Members of House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

Dear Chairman Comer and Ranking Member Connolly:

The Coalition for Sensible Safeguards (CSS), a group of over 200 consumer, small business, labor, scientific, environmental, health, and public interest organizations that represent millions of Americans and advocate for effective regulations to protect the public, strongly opposes H.R. 1295, the “Reorganizing Government Act of 2025’’ that would more accurately be named the “Dismantling Government Act.” We urge you to vote against this deeply concerning bill.

Since the beginning of the Trump Administration, there has been an unprecedented assault on government agencies, federal workers, critical government programs, and regulations that protect the public, all of which have been undertaken in extremely reckless and often unlawful ways. By attempting to usurp congressional authority, these actions have violated numerous laws passed by Congress. It is imperative that Congress conduct robust and aggressive oversight to reverse the damage caused by the Trump Administration and protect the American public.

In stark contrast, H.R. 1295 would do the opposite by “rubber stamping” the Trump Administration’s lawlessness and laying the foundation for further dismantling of government agencies, mass firings of federal workers, and rollbacks of vital regulatory protections.

Compared to previous legislative efforts to provide Presidents with authority to put forth government reorganization plans, H.R. 1295 is far more extensive and extreme. This would give President Trump new powers that are designed to allow the Trump Administration to eliminate entire government agencies, gut essential government programs and services that the public relies upon, fire federal civil servants at will, and roll back regulations at the behest of corporate special interests. None of this will improve government nor make it more effective as has been the intent of all previous congressional grants of authority to Presidents regarding government reorganization plans.

H.R. 1295 sets up a process for the President to submit the Administration’s proposal to “reorganize” or diminish executive agencies to both houses of Congress. Each house would then need to vote on the dismantling within sixty calendar days to affirm the elimination of the executive department.

H.R. 1295 would also threaten the independence of independent regulatory agencies from the President by allowing the President to dismantle and entirely eliminate government agencies. This is a new power that had been previously prohibited. This would eliminate the essential work that independent agencies do to protect our health, safety, workers, and keep our markets fair by firing employees, decimating agencies, undermining existing congressionally mandated statutory authority, and eliminating essential rules and regulations. President Trump has already attempted to destroy the independence of these agencies by unconstitutionally firing Democratic-appointed commissioners. Congress established these agencies as independent of the President in order to ensure checks and balances, and it must vigorously defend their independence against President Trump’s overreach.

H.R. 1295 not only creates a fast track to dismantle these critical entities but does so by exempting these efforts from the filibuster, thus allowing the Senate to eliminate these agencies and their critical functions with a simple majority. In other words, this bill provides a fast track to the destruction of the critical entities that ensure our families are safe, our workers have protections, our environment is protected, and our markets are fair.

The American public expects Congress to make government work more effectively and preserve the separation of powers, not give Presidents “carte blanche” to dismantle government agencies and institutions.

Sincerely,

Rachel Weintraub
Executive Director
Coalition for Sensible Safeguards