At most beaches, some of the novelty shops sell t-shirts that say “The beatings will continue until morale improves.” Or words to that effect. And they sell very well.

But the t-shirts could do even better, maybe even become the uniform of federal civil servants in the future. That could happen if Congress seriously considers reviving an 1875 House of Representatives rule which would allow any member of Congress to target any number of federal employees for a pay cut. At its worst, the plan would permit feds to become dollar-a-year employees, which would wreck havoc with the family budget and stuff like paying rent. And eating.

The Washington Post reported that House Republicans had “reinstated an arcane procedure rule” that would, if approved by Congress, “enable lawmakers to reach deep into the budget and slash the pay of individual workers” down to as little as $1 per year. That would definitely be a setback to federal and state minimum wage laws, not to mention the lives and eating habits of families where a fed — unlucky enough to fall afoul of a six-figure congressman from Podunk — who decided to teach the fed a lesson.

The proposal involves reviving an 1876 proposal made by a congressman from Indiana named Holman. The Holman rule would allow Congress to amend appropriations bills of individual agencies to target one or more employees’ paychecks. Its revival, The Post said, was proposed by Rep. H. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.). That’s interesting because Virginia is one of the top four states in terms of numbers of federal employees. Many of them are concentrated in Northern Virginia (inside and outside the D.C. beltway) and the Tidewater portion of the Old Dominion. Once solidly Republican, the state has been trending Democratic of late, especially in high-income areas that have lots of federal civil servants.

While the Holman rule strikes many people as not ready for prime time, the nation is entering new territory. This is the first time in a long time where one party (the GOP) controls the White House, the Senate and the House. So anything, in theory, no matter how loopy (not to mention maybe illegal) could happen.

Until the Holman Rule becomes law, Congress might want to resume flogging as a punishment for federal workers. Now that the Potomac is relatively pollution free, it might also be a good idea to install dunking stools on the banks of the Potomac where, as many suspect, the really bad federal civil servants live and work.

Nearly Useless Factoid

By David Thornton

In British legal terminology, a distinction was drawn between “flogging” with a cat-o’-nine-tails, and “whipping” — formerly with a whip, but since the early 19th century with a birch. Both were abolished in Britain in 1948.

Source: Wikipedia

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