Harris pledges to remove degree requirements for federal jobs

Kamala Harris has pledged to remove “unnecessary degree requirements” for federal jobs, opening up avenues for workers without four-year degrees to apply for and obtain government careers.

“For far too long, our nation has encouraged only one path to success: a four-year college degree,” Vice President Harris told a crowd of supporters in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Friday. “Our nation needs to recognize the value of other paths, additional paths, such as apprenticeships and technical programs.”

To walk that talk, a Harris presidency will remove those unnecessary degree requirements, “understanding that requiring a certain degree does not necessarily talk about one’s skills,” she said. “And I will challenge the private sector to do the same.”

That announcement capped a stretch of her Friday speech touting what she’s called her plan to develop an “opportunity economy,” which includes a plan to give a $50,000 tax deduction to start-up small businesses. (“Not everybody, like my opponent, got handed $40 million on a silver tray and then filed for bankruptcy six times,” Harris said, jabbing at former President Donald Trump.)

Harris also repeated pledges to “cut red tape” and work with private-sector businesses to build 3 million new homes by the end of her first term. That plan would include a tax incentive for building starter homes, expanding tax incentives for building affordable rental housing, and an “innovation fund” supporting housing development.

She also repeated her promise to expand the child tax credit to provide $6,000 to families in the first year of a child’s life.

“Look, I come from the middle class. I understand where I come from, and I’m never going to forget that, and I will always put middle-class, working people first,” Harris said.

The pledge to end degree requirements shares a goal with recent legislation proposed by Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, the Federal Jobs for STARs Act. His bill would remove education requirements from civil service jobs except where the Office of Personnel Management deems necessary, while also seeking to streamline job search functionality and research pathways to help employees acquire job training and higher education. It also seeks to boost job-seekers who have “developed job-related skills through alternative routes,” including military service, community college or partial college work, apprenticeships or on-the-job experience.

Harris isn’t the only candidate whose policy proposals share ends with recent bills. Trump’s plan to end taxes on overtime wages borrows from the KEEP Act, sponsored by Rep. Russ Fulcher, R-Id. — though Trump’s plan appears aimed at all taxes on wages, while Fulcher’s would maintain payroll taxes that fund Social Security, Medicare and unemployment.

Meanwhile, Harris jabbed at Trump’s promises to impose tariffs on imported goods — one which she calls a sales tax, noting that the costs for sourcing goods increases as the chain continues from the original producer all the way to the consumer.

Harris’s Friday rally came three days from her debate against Trump on Tuesday in Philadelphia — one in which her strong performance magnified Trump’s growing discomfort as the night continued. 

In one memorable debate exchange, Trump — pressed by a moderator — admitted that he only had “the concept of a plan” for replacing the Affordable Care Act. Harris has taken that moment and run with it.

“He’s going to threaten health insurance for the 45 million people who rely on it based on a ‘concept,’ and take us back? We remember what that was, when insurance companies have the power to deny people with preexisting conditions,” Harris said. 

On the back end of her remarks, Harris again addressed a group of pro-Palestinian protesters who sought to interrupt her rally — an occurrence that once derailed her. This time, she moved past it very quickly.

“Hey, listen. Now is the time to get a hostage deal and cease-fire. We have been working around the clock to get that done,” Harris said, referring to her and her boss, President Joe Biden. “And I respect your voice. But right now I am speaking,” she added, moving on.

Harris’s rally in Wilkes-Barre was her third in the last two days, after a pair of events on Thursday in North Carolina. According to the White House, Harris will be at two events Saturday, including one with President Joe Biden at a Congressional Black Caucus Foundation dinner. Meanwhile, running mate Tim Walz will continue the campaign’s post-debate blitz on Saturday with an event in Wisconsin.