Comer and Greene Demand Biden Administration Stop Signing New Labor Deals That Entrench the Federal Bureaucracy
WASHINGTON—House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) today are calling on the Biden Administration to cease its efforts to “Trump-proof” the federal bureaucracy. In his final weeks in office, President Biden is misusing federal labor law to put even more power in the hands of federal employees and entrench policies the American people rejected in November. In letters to 24 federal agencies, Chairman Comer and Rep. Greene demand agencies cease negotiating or extending collective bargaining agreements with federal employee unions for the duration of the Biden-Harris Administration. They also are requesting information related to collective bargaining negotiations, communication with the White House, and current in-person work rates at the agencies.
“The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is investigating whether President Biden’s federal labor policies have negatively affected agency operations and missions. It is also investigating whether agency leaders are abusing federal labor laws by granting authority over agency operations and policy to unions, chiefly to bind the hands of a future President,” wrote the lawmakers. “The Biden-Harris Administration has not only neglected to address longstanding issues of federal employee accountability but has ceded presidential authority to run the federal government to union allies. Moreover, the Biden Administration has actively sought to constrain the ability of a future Administration to manage employees effectively and responsibly, and to increase accountability to the public.”
During this Congress, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability has investigated the Biden-Harris Administration’s continuation of pandemic-era telework policies. President Biden’s policies have prioritized the interests of federal employee unions over those of the American people. Moreover, Biden-Harris Administration officials have failed to make the case that these policies benefit the public or improve agency operations. Despite the Administration’s concessions to federal employee unions, these unions have vocally opposed efforts to increase in-person work at federal agencies. As a result, current telework policies are largely the result of collective bargaining agreements or arbitration, and not a reflection of considered management policy or agency mission requirements. Recently, former Social Security Administration Chief Martin O’Malley locked in telework agreements for 42,000 employees until 2029. The House of Representatives passed Chairman Comer’s SHOW UP Act, which would return telework levels to their pre-pandemic status, but the Democrat-controlled Senate has refused to act on it.
“In a landslide, the American people have charged President-elect Trump with administering the Executive Branch beginning on January 20, 2025. To prevent further inhibition of the incoming President’s ability to fulfill his mandate, we strongly urge the Biden-Harris Administration to cease negotiating or extending collective bargaining agreements with respect to a workforce it will have no responsibility to manage going forward,” continued the lawmakers. “By employing these short-term tactics to ‘Trump-proof’ federal agencies, the Biden-Harris Administration apparently did not consider—or perhaps did not care—that this abuse of labor law will further convince the public that the civil service considers itself beyond the reach of accountability.”
Read the letters here.