Comer, Sessions & Boebert Continue Probe into Biden Administration’s Federal Telework Policy
Request information after Biden Administration Chief of Staff calls on federal agency heads to return employees in-person
WASHINGTON— House Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.), Subcommittee on Government Operations and the Federal Workforce Chairman Pete Sessions (R-Texas), and Congresswoman Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) are continuing oversight of the Biden Administration’s telework policy for federal employees. In a letter to White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients, the lawmakers are requesting information after he sent an email to federal agency heads the same day the Oversight Committee sent a follow up request for information of federal telework policies, raising questions on the timing and motivation of Administration’s sudden push for in-person work.
Below are excerpts from the letter. The full letter can be found here.
“The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is conducting oversight of the Biden Administration’s post-pandemic telework and remote work policies for federal employees. As you are likely aware, the Committee sent letters to 25 federal agencies on May 18, 2023, requesting data and details necessary to assess the potential impact of expanded telework on agency mission accomplishment. Despite our reasonable request for information, our first letter was largely ignored until we sent follow-up communications to the unresponsive agencies on August 4.
“By coincidence, on the same day the Committee sent its follow-up letters, you sent an email to agency heads stressing the importance of transitioning away from telework to return more federal employees to in-person work. Your letter stated that ‘aggressively’ increasing in-person work is a priority for President Biden, and that doing so would allow the executive branch ‘to deliver better results for the American people’ by improving ‘teamwork… and productivity” within the federal workforce.’
“With the worst effects of the COVID pandemic long behind us, the timing and motivation of the Administration’s sudden push for increased in-person work calls for a more formal explanation. The American people deserve to understand the Biden Administration’s post-pandemic telework policy and the thinking behind the Biden Administration’s rapidly evolving telework posture.”
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