Senators want to help Trump drain Washington swamp

President Trump promised in his 2016 campaign to drain the Washington swamp, the career bureaucrats who typically put maintaining the establishment ahead of the wishes of the American people. Now two senators say they want to help by moving some federal agencies out of Washington entirely. Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., have…

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Rep. Marsha Blackburn

President Trump promised in his 2016 campaign to drain the Washington swamp, the career bureaucrats who typically put maintaining the establishment ahead of the wishes of the American people.

Now two senators say they want to help by moving some federal agencies out of Washington entirely.

Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., have proposed the Helping Infrastructure Restore the Economy Act.

"Moving agencies outside of Washington, D.C., both boosts local economies and lowers costs – that's a winning combination," said Blackburn in the announcement.

"This legislation would enable Americans across the country to have greater access to good jobs. Tennesseans would greatly benefit from having portions of the Department of Education in the Volunteer State. It is my hope that the HIRE Act will quickly pass the Senate."

The plan would require the headquarters of certain agencies to move along with 90 percent of their employees.

Agriculture's move to Missouri already is underway under the Trump administration, as is the Bureau of Land Management's move to Colorado.

Other agencies include Commerce, which would be sent to Pennsylvania; Education to Tennessee; Energy to Kentucky; HHS to Indiana; HUD to Ohio, Interior to New Mexico, Labor to West Virginia; Transportation to Michigan; and the Veterans Administration to South Carolina.

"Every year Americans' hard-earned tax dollars fund federal agencies that are mainly located in the D.C. bubble," said Hawley. "That's a big part of the problem with Washington: they're too removed from the rest of America. The HIRE Act will move policymakers directly into the communities they serve, creating thousands of jobs for local communities and saving taxpayers billions of dollars along the way."

The lower living costs would be a benefit, the senators argue.

The announcement said Americans "spend billions in taxes to pay for federal salaries" but "they lack equal access to those jobs."

"Even though federal jobs are paid for by everybody, those jobs disproportionately are in the D.C. area," the senators said.

"Federal jobs provide economic stability and encourage regional growth. When the FBI moved the Criminal Justice Information Services Center to Clarksburg, W.V., the stable stream of revenue from those jobs boosted the local economy and helped it grow," the report said.

"Moving agencies also is cheaper long term. Lease costs typically are lower outside D.C. Relocating agencies in the Department of Agriculture to Kansas City, according to one report, will save $300 million over 15 years."

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