House Republicans overwhelmingly passed a measure Thursday to bar federal employees from watching porn on work computers.
The bill passed 241-181, largely along party lines. Republicans were in favor of the measure, with only two GOP members voting against the bill. Democrats voted largely against the bill, with only four Democrats voting for it — opposition leaders cited their desire to protect federal employees.
“It’s kind of ridiculous that we have to legislate this, but it is such a pervasive problem in our work on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee,” Representative Chaffetz told reporters about the bill. One example Chaffetz provided included a former EPA employee who watched hours of porn a day during work.
It is very difficult to fire employees for such offenses. Democrats overwhelmingly voted against the bill, primarily because it would create a legal way to fire federal employees for misconduct.
“This legislation is a mishmash of several bills that would damage employee rights, weaken public health and safety, and do little, if anything, to advance government reform,” Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings said in a press release.
“To be clear, there are many in the federal workforce, including senior executives, who are hardworking public servants,” Republican Rep. Tim Walberg of Michigan told reporters from The Hill in response to Democrat criticism. “However, as we have seen repeatedly in hearings before our committee, there are also bad actors who have grossly abused their position.”
The Obama White House still pledged to veto the bill should it pass the Senate. The bill would direct the Office of Management and Budget to create a series of rules to ban pornography at work, but would still enable employees access to pornographic materials in the course of an investigation.
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