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Washington, D.C.—Without the opportunity for extended discussion and debate, legislation creating the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would not have included key protections for its workers—including basic merit principles—the leader of the nation’s largest independent union of federal workers said today.

“Would the public really have been better served if a massive reorganization like homeland security was unamendable,” asked President Colleen M. Kelley of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU). “The president’s original proposal (for DHS) did not contain whistleblower protection for federal employees,” she said. “Nor did it require merit principles nor ensure that non-homeland defense functions of merged agencies would be maintained.”

President Kelley made this point in testimony before the House Government Reform Subcommittee as one reason why Congress should reject “fast-track style schemes” to reorganize government agencies that “eliminate all opportunity for meaningful dialogue and review by Congress.”

The committee is looking at proposals to broaden the authority of a president to reorganize the federal government, including the use of the “fast-track” approach. Under a “fast-track” scenario, the president would send a reorganization plan to Congress, where the proposal would be subject to no changes—only an up-or-down vote. It is modeled after the president’s authority to negotiate trade agreements.

“Reorganization plans presented to Congress fully developed and unamendable leave no room for input from the public,” she said. None of the many parties affected by government reorganization

should be denied the chance for their legitimate input into the dialogue and discussion regarding government reorganization, she added.

It is the legislative process, particularly congressional hearings, which provide agency managers, employees and individuals and businesses who deal with federal agencies, with the meaningful opportunity to comment on the structure and function of their government, President Kelley emphasized.

“The system of careful checks and balances among the powers and authorities of the branches of government makes up the most remarkable and profound aspect of our constitutional system, and it is not something to put out of balance,” she said.

Kelley noted that congressional action is required to create executive branch departments, to fund them, to determine the nature and scope of their duties and to confirm the appointment of their top leaders. “One would hope that Congress would not thoughtlessly give away its rightful prerogatives,” the NTEU president said.

As the largest independent federal union, NTEU represents some 150,000 federal employees in 29 agencies and departments.