Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is calling for the firing of protesting federal workers who are reportedly planning to walk out on their jobs in support of Hamas.
As Slay News reported earlier, “hundreds” of federal employees are planning to walk out of work on Tuesday, January 16.
The walkout is being planned in protest of the pro-Israel policies of Democrat President Joe Biden’s administration.
He suggested the House of Representatives would help ensure that employees who protest on Tuesday are punished.
“Any government worker who walks off the job to protest U.S. support for our ally Israel is ignoring their responsibility and abusing the trust of taxpayers. They deserve to be fired,” Johnson stated on X Sunday.
“Oversight Chairman Comer and I will be working together to ensure that each federal agency initiates appropriate disciplinary proceedings against any person who walks out on their job.”
Importantly, Congress has outlawed federal government employees from protesting and striking.
“An individual may not accept or hold a position in the Government of the United States … if he … participates in a strike, or asserts the right to strike, against the Government of the United States,” asserts 5 U.S. Code § 7311.
Federal government employees found guilty of breaking the law “shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year and a day, or both,” according to 18 U.S. Code § 1918.
Johnson was responding to a report by Middle East-focused outlet Al-Monitor that said hundreds of federal employees from 22 government agencies pledged to participate in a walkout on Tuesday.
The group reportedly staging the protest, Feds United for Peace, is doing so in opposition to the Biden administration’s handling of the war between Israel and Hamas.
It’s reportedly advertising the event as a “Day of Mourning” to mark 100 days since Israel’s response against Hamas began.
“Feds United for Peace” has been taking to social media to promote a “Day of Mourning” for Hamas-controlled Gaza on Jan. 16.
According to one post, the protesters label themselves “a group of federal employees representing a range of federal agencies who believe it is our patriotic duty and moral imperative to urge our government to support calls for a ceasefire and support humanitarian aid and access for Gaza.”
The issue of Israel has been driving a wedge between establishment Democrats and hardline leftists since Hamas terrorists invaded the country on October 7, killing more than 1,200 people.
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza has said that more than 24,000 people have been killed so far in Israel’s response.
However, the figures from Hamas are widely considered to be false propaganda and often include the deaths of terrorists.
U.S. participation in the conflict escalated last week when it partnered with the U.K. to lead a coalition air attack on Houthi positions in Yemen.
Radical progressives like Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Cori Bush (D-MO) blasted the Biden administration for skirting Congress for the bombings.
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