Republican Rep. Abe Hamadeh has taken a bold stand for loyalty and accountability in government by introducing legislation that would require federal civilian career employees to pass a U.S. citizenship test as a condition of employment. This is common-sense oversight — if we expect immigrants to demonstrate knowledge and allegiance to earn citizenship, surely federal employees who wield government power should meet the same standard.
The measure, filed in mid-January 2026, was formally introduced on January 15 and referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, putting the question squarely before lawmakers who claim to care about national security and taxpayer stewardship. This isn’t a backroom stunt; it’s a clear legislative step that forces Congress to answer whether federal employees owe undivided loyalty to the United States.
Hamadeh hasn’t been coy about his reasoning: he argues that divided allegiances undermine sovereignty and that Americans deserve to know who in the bureaucracy is truly committed to this nation. He has pressed similar reforms elsewhere, including efforts to surface dual-citizenship data so citizens can see whether representation and federal resources are being skewed by competing loyalties. That line of thinking is not radical — it is patriotic and overdue.
Meanwhile, the premise behind the bill isn’t pulled from thin air. The federal naturalization test and recent moves by federal agencies to tighten citizenship standards show there’s precedent for insisting on an understanding of American civic life and loyalty before granting privileges or responsibilities. If Washington expects immigrants to pass a civics exam to claim the benefits of citizenship, the same expectation for those administering government is only fair.
Practical questions remain — Congress.gov notes the bill’s text had not been printed publicly in the days following its introduction and, as filed, it has no cosponsors yet — but those are technicalities, not reasons to ignore the underlying principle. Voters should press their representatives to stop defending a bloated, unaccountable bureaucracy and start defending the republic; legal debate and drafting come after the decision to demand loyalty, not instead of it.
This fight is bigger than one congressman; it’s about restoring a merit and loyalty-based culture in federal service and putting hardworking Americans first. Conservatives ought to rally behind measures that hold the administrative state to standards we demand from citizens who choose America, not excuses from an entrenched class that treats public service as a safe harbor for indifference. Congress should act, and patriots should make sure they do.
