{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://stansbury.house.gov/media/press-releases/congresswoman-stansbury-votes-protect-federal-workers-political-interference", "Congresswoman Stansbury Votes to Protect Federal Workers from Political Interference and Support Good Government, Workers\u2019 Rights", "2022-09-15", "2022", "2022-09", "Democrat", "House", "NM", "Melanie A. Stansbury", "S001218", "stansbury.house.gov", "stansbury", "https://stansbury.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON\u2014Today, U.S. Representative Melanie Stansbury (N.M.-01) voted to pass the Preventing a Patronage System Act (H.R. 302) to protect the over 20,000 federal employees across New Mexico and civil servants across the United States from political interference in their jobs.\n\n\u201cOur civil servants selflessly serve this nation every day, delivering for our communities in education, defense, healthcare, veterans affairs, and countless other programs. We must maintain the integrity of the civil service and ensure it is based on the merit, skills, and dedication of our federal workers \u2013 and not their political connections,\u201d said Rep. Stansbury. \u201cOur civil servants the backbone of our democratic institutions. Today, I was proud to vote to pass the Preventing a Patronage System Act to protect the livelihoods and rights of millions of federal employees who have dedicated their lives to serving our country.\u201d\n\nIn 2020, former President Trump issued a far-reaching executive order which stripped protections for federal government employees from political interference and politically-motivated hiring and firing practices. Though this executive order has since been nullified, the Preventing a Patronage System Act would protect the integrity of the civil service from future political manipulation. Rep. Stansbury\u2019s vote to protect federal workers across New Mexico and the nation is part of her wider legislative work to support good government and protect our American democracy, including the Protecting our Democracy Act (H.R. 5314), the Freedom to Vote Act (S.B. 2747), and the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (H.R. 4).", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T03:08:33Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://stansbury.house.gov/media/press-releases/congresswoman-stansbury-votes-protect-federal-workers-political-interference"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.922993291169405, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}