Republicans are accusing the Biden administration of withholding information on federal employee telework numbers as the White House prepares to end its COVID-era remote work policy.
In a letter Friday to all Cabinet heads, Biden’s Chief of Staff Jeff Zients stated that all federal employees would be expected to return to the office this fall after years of remote work.
‘We are returning to in-person work because it is critical to the well-being of our teams and will enable us to deliver better results for the American people,’ Zients reportedly wrote in the letter, adding that it is a ‘priority of the president.’
House Republicans separately wrote to Biden agency heads Friday, re-upping their demands for information on precisely how many federal employees continue to work from home three years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. They say they’ve been stonewalled by the administration so far.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., and Reps. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, and Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., blasted the Biden administration for ‘intentionally withholding’ the information from Congress.
House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer has written federal agencies demanding information on how many employees they have teleworking
‘One of two options is currently playing out: either federal agencies are withholding information from Congress or federal agencies are not tracking telework and remote work policies as required by the law. Both possibilities are deeply concerning,’ say Comer, Sessions and Boebert.
They threatened ‘compulsory measures’ if the administration does not provide the requested information. That could come in the form of official subpoenas.
Comer told DailyMail.com that it’s ‘past time’ for the Biden administration to get federal workers back into the office.
‘It’s unacceptable that the Biden Administration has continued pandemic-era telework policies when the pandemic has been over for some time,’ he continued.
They are seeking occupancy rates on their Washington, D.C., offices – and in a hint at maintaining resources, ask if they have made plans to adjust their ‘real estate footprint’ based on current plans.
The letter references D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s demand in her inauguration address this year for ‘decisive action’ from the White House to ‘get most federal workers back to the office most of the time’ or take a look at the government’s array of real estate in the city.
Comer cited reports that just a third of federal employees are back in the office since the start of the pandemic.
In February, the House passed the SHOWUP Act, which seeks to restore pre-pandemic telework levels.
In the Senate, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., introduced a companion bill to the SHOWUP Act.
She said: ‘It’s illogical that VA employees are able to work from a bubble bath, while organizations across the country have safely re-opened.’
The effort to force out more information about the arrangements is not new. Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., sent out similar letters in 2021.
Johnson told DailyMail.com that with ‘few exceptions,’ 34 federal agencies ‘ignored’ his requests to provide the number of employees teleworking.
‘The Biden Administration’s grossly inadequate responses to even the most basic, legitimate oversight questions highlights this administration’s lack of transparency and apparent disdain for Congressional oversight,’ he continued.
The Biden administration officially ended the COVID-19 emergency in May.
The White House said ending the federal telework policy is a ‘priority of the president’
Republicans are threatening ‘compulsory measures’ if the administration does not provide the requested information
Republicans grilled Office Personnel Management Director Kiran Ahuja at a March hearing on federal telework policies – at a time when agencies are facing retirements and retention issues.
‘While COVID is no longer driving our workforce decisions, employers have updated tools and knowledge about managing employees in hybrid work environments and the benefits to their customers,’ she said.
Ahuja said the policies have had a ‘positive impact workplace flexibilities have on areas such as productivity, engagement and diversifying the talent pool.’
Without explicitly saying workers are slacking off, the letter asks agency heads to ‘describe the management protocols your agency has implemented to ensure workers are either adhering to the provisions of a telework agreement or are otherwise fulfilling their official duties.’
