SCHUMER, GILLIBRAND, MANNION SLAM RUMORED ‘DOGE’ CUTS TO DFAS ROME WORKFORCE, DEMAND DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE IMMEDIATELY REVERSE COURSE & PROTECT THE MOHAWK VALLEY WORKERS VITAL TO AMERICA’S MILITARY SERVICEMEMBERS & NATIONAL DEFENSE

Nearly 100 Full-Time DFAS Rome Workers Have Already Left Amid ‘DOGE’ Chaos, And ‘DOGE’ Has Already Targeted Nearly 100 Probationary Workers To Be Fired, Which Is Currently Under Litigation  – In Total, This Would Slash DFAS Rome Workforce By Over 20%, With More Rumored Cuts Still On Horizon

DFAS Rome’s Civilian Workforce Manages All Financial Services for Military Operations, Providing Defense Department And Our Troops With Mission-Critical Accounting Services, Logistical Support, And More

Schumer, Gillibrand, Mannion: Protecting DFAS Rome Is Essential To Supporting Our Brave Warfighters And Their Families

Amid ‘DOGE’ chaos and cuts impacting hundreds of workers at DFAS Rome, U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, and U.S. Congressman John Mannion urged the U.S. Department of Defense to preserve the civilian workforce at DFAS Rome, as they are vital to supporting the DOD and the brave men and women of our armed forces, including warfighters.

Schumer said that, “’DOGE’ needs to get their hands off DFAS Rome. The world-class workers at DFAS Rome support America’s Armed Forces, and protecting the DFAS Rome workforce is vital to protecting our national security, our troops and the Mohawk Valley economy.”

“‘DOGE’s shoot-first-and-ask-questions-later approach to DFAS Rome’s workforce will undermine their ability to effectively execute its vital mission in support of our Armed Forces and the DOD. DFAS in Rome is not only vital to the Department of Defense but also to the City of Rome and Mohawk Valley’s economy. This proposal would hurt every level of our Armed Forces, undermine America’s national security, and hurt the Mohawk Valley community,” said Senator Schumer. “I am all for cutting out inefficiency, but you use a scalpel, not a chainsaw. You don’t fire hardworking Americans, like those at DFAS, who have dedicated their careers to supporting our military servicemembers, families, and all DoD operations. The civilian workforce of DFAS Rome is not ‘government waste’ – they are what makes America great. That’s why I’m demanding the Department of Defense oppose and immediately reverse any plans to reduce DFAS Rome’s civilian workforce.”

“DFAS employees in Rome and across the country provide mission-critical support to every level of our armed forces,” said Senator Gillibrand. “Firing these workers will jeopardize our national security, harm Rome’s economy, and make it more difficult for servicemembers, veterans, retirees, and military families to resolve payroll issues and get the health and retirement benefits they’ve earned. I’m urging the Department of Defense to immediately reverse its plans to cut DFAS employees, and I will stand steadfast in my commitment to protect these crucial workers.”

Representative John W. Mannion said, “DFAS was created to bring consistency and accountability to the Department of Defense’s financial operations—critical principles it continues to uphold every day in service to our warfighters, their families, and American taxpayers. Workforce reductions at DFAS Rome undermine this mission and threaten jobs that are vital to the Mohawk Valley economy. These cuts are unnecessary and contradict our shared commitment to a responsive, effective, and fully supported Department of Defense.”

DFAS / AFGE President Edward Abounader said, “For over 20 years Senator Schumer has been a staunch advocate for DFAS Rome and its employees, and we deeply appreciate his continued support alongside Senator Gillibrand and Congressman Mannion. With our workforce already down hundreds of employees and additional cuts on the horizon, it’s time for all of us to come together and fight to protect DFAS Rome before it’s too late. On behalf of the hard-working employees at DFAS Rome and DFAS locations across the country, I would like to thank our Senator Schumer, Senator Gillibrand and Congressman Mannion for standing up for the critical work we do to assist our Nations Warfighters through diligent fiscal oversight as the premier Government Working Capital Fund for the Department of Defense.”

According to local representatives tied to DFAS Rome, ‘DOGE’ is actively attempting to cut around 100 full-time DFAS Rome workers because of their probationary status, but those workers are currently still on the jobs because of pending litigation. Since ‘DOGE’ has begun their plans to cut the federal workforce, 60 people at DFAS Rome have taken the ‘fork in the road’ offer for early retirement, while an approximately additional 40 have resigned since February amid fear of the impact ‘DOGE’ would have on their jobs. DFAS Rome is currently unable to replace any of this lost workforce because of the ongoing federal hiring freeze, and according to local representatives tied to DFAS Rome given the ongoing ‘DOGE’ chaos they expect to lose more workers to resignations and retirements.

Even worse, there is also concerns of rumored even deeper cuts under consideration, as well as an attack on the DFAS union’s Master Collective Bargaining Agreement, which could put hundreds of additional workers at risk and create an existential threat to the future of DFAS Rome.

The lawmakers in a letter to the U.S. Department of Defense explained these firings and inability to hire new workers would cripple a significant portion of DFAS Rome’s 1,100+ workforce, most of whom are civilians. DFAS Rome’s civilian workforce provides mission-critical financial services and logistical support to our Armed Forces and every element of DoD operations, from facilities sustainment and foreign military sales (FMS) to forward deployment. The lawmakers explained that DFAS Rome provides support services directly to servicemembers and their families, such as payroll, benefits enrollment, and reimbursement for travel related to deployment or Permanent Change of Station (PCS) for active duty servicemembers.

The lawmakers added that the first round of cuts carried out by DOGE and DoD earlier this year has already set several of DFAS Rome’s operational cells responsible for providing these support functions—including the call center and travel section—on a trajectory towards mission failure. The impacts of these cuts will inevitably impose additional burdens and stress factors on our military servicemembers and their families that are otherwise avoidable, and will ultimately degrade readiness, recruitment, and retention among our Armed Forces.

Schumer and Gillibrand have a long history of fighting to preserve jobs at Rome’s DFAS. Last year, the senators helped protect hundreds of DFAS employees in Rome from job displacement caused by automation and “rapid deployment” of bots. In 2020, the senators secured language in the FY2021 NDAA increasing Congressional oversight over DFAS personnel changes and adding additional protection for DFAS employees by requiring DoD to justify that proposed changes would yield significant cost savings before transitioning any functions that would result in the reduction or transfer of DFAS employees. In 2018, the senators went to bat for DFAS in the Senate, successfully ensuring that the Senate NDAA did not contain the 25% cut to agencies that employ civilian workers the House version did. In doing so, the Senators saved approximately 200 DFAS jobs. In 2017, after years of advocacy, the senators announced that a US Army pilot program jeopardizing over 1000 DFAS Rome jobs had concluded and there would be no changes or layoffs. Those advocacy efforts included FY2015 NDAA language requiring the Army Secretary to certify benefit prior to transferring functions away from DFAS, a personal call from Schumer to Army Secretary John McHugh, and a joint letter with Senator Gillibrand to Secretary McHugh.

The Defense Finance and Accounting Service was created in 1991 to standardize and improve accounting and financial operations for DoD. They provide payroll services for DoD military and civilian personnel, retirees and other major contractors and vendors. DFAS operates as a separate and unique entity in DoD, to ensure transparency and accountability on behalf of DoD financing and accounting.

Schumer, Gillibrand, and Mannion’s letter to U.S. Department of Defense Secretary Hegseth can be found HERE.

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