Hundreds of federal employees and White House staffers planned to walk off the job Tuesday in protest of President Biden's support for Israel. Though the walkout was called off due to a winter storm in D.C., Fox News contributor Andy McCarthy warned federal employees on "Fox & Friends" that striking is "not an option" and is a criminal offense.
ANDY MCCARTHY: The federal law is very clear. If you're a federal employee, you can't strike. I have to say, as someone who worked in the government for more years than I care to say, there's no one who works in the government for any length of time and doesn't have any number of policies that they intensely disagree with. Striking is not an option under federal law. It's a crime. …
It matters whether they're at work or not. I would point out that a substantial amount of the voting public, which is when you get into the demographics that are older in this country, are overwhelmingly pro-Israel, and they're not that crazy about the government. I point those things out because the general federal statute of limitation on crimes is five years. So even if Biden is too weak to take action against these staffers, this is a crime. It can be punished from the time it occurs until 2029, January 2029. I think it would be smart for, whether it's Donald Trump or whoever the Republican nominee ends up being, this ought to be a campaign issue. Any government employee who strikes should be prosecuted.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is calling for the firing of federal workers if they walk out on their jobs in protest of U.S. policy on Israel and Gaza.
He suggested the House of Representatives would help ensure that employees who protest are punished.
"Any government worker who walks off the job to protest U.S. support for our ally Israel is ignoring their responsibility and abusing the trust of taxpayers. They deserve to be fired," Johnson stated on X Sunday.
"Oversight Chairman Comer and I will be working together to ensure that each federal agency initiates appropriate disciplinary proceedings against any person who walks out on their job."
Johnson was responding to a report by Middle East-focused outlet Al-Monitor that said hundreds of federal employees from 22 government agencies pledged to participate in the walkout.
Fox News' Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.
