House panel again subpoenas Biden’s Labor chief over return-to-work plan
The House Education and Workforce Committee on Monday subpoenaed acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su over what it called a "failure" to hand over materials related to the department's return-to-work plan.
"Under Acting Secretary Su, the [Department of Labor (DOL)] has adopted a posture of blatant negligence in complying with the Committee’s oversight requests — vague answers and routine failures to provide requested materials have become the norm," committee Chair Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) said in a statement.
It comes days after Foxx threatened to subpoena Su during a committee hearing last week, when the Labor chief appeared before the panel.
Foxx sent a letter to Su on March 6 pressing her on the department’s failure to submit their return-to-office policies after the White House requested the information. The North Carolina Republican asked Su to do so by March 20, but last week said an adequate amount of information was not handed over and threatened to subpoena Su by May 6 should additional information not be handed over.
"The Committee’s March 6th letter to DOL requesting information on its return-to-work action plan remains unanswered — this is entirely unacceptable," Foxx said in a statement. "Acting Secretary Su has also now ignored a request during her May 1 appearance before the full Committee that she provide a copy of DOL’s return-to-office plan, which the White House instructed each agency to prepare and submit."
The department handed over what Foxx called an "insufficient" response on April 18 in response to the March letter "that failed to address the Committee's core request," per Foxx.
In Foxx's initial letter to Su, she pointed to an analysis from the Government Accountability Office that found the DOL and five other agencies used an estimated 23 percent of their headquarters space on average.
Calling this “unacceptable,” Foxx referenced guidance from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued in April 2023 that urged federal workers to return to the office full time.
“An accurate understanding of the headquarters staffing situation is necessary for the committee to ensure that DOL is undertaking its mandates faithfully and in accordance with the law,” Foxx wrote. “Furthermore, employees failing to return to the office could expose taxpayers to significant waste, fraud and abuse.”
The Hill reached out to the Department of Labor for further comment.
Su’s nomination to replace former Labor Secretary Marty Walsh has faced numerous roadblocks over the past year amid backlash from Republicans in the Senate.
Su was nominated by President Biden last March to fill in for Walsh, but the nomination was never voted on in the upper chamber. By June, it appeared Democratic leadership made little progress in convincing holdouts to back her nomination.
She was renominated by Biden to serve as Labor secretary in January, and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee advanced the nomination in a party-line vote in February. It has yet not been brought to the Senate floor for a full vote.
Date: | |
Tag: | Joe Biden |
Filter
-
Garland contempt resolution clears House panels as Biden asserts privilege
The Justice Department said Thursday morning that the president was asserting executive privilege over the recordings with special counsel Robert Hur.CBS News - Politics - Joe Biden -
Merrick Garland contempt resolution clears House panel
The House Judiciary Committee advanced a resolution Thursday to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress. CBS News congressional correspondent Scott MacFarlane reports.CBS News - Top stories -
House panels vote to hold Garland in contempt
Two House committees on Thursday advanced measures to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress in an effort to censure him for failing to turn over audio recordings of the president. A last-minute move from President Biden to ...The Hill - Politics -
House panel accuses Harvard of suppressing antisemitism group's findings
The House Education and the Workforce Committee released a report Friday it says shows Harvard University's lack of action against antisemitism, accusing the top university of suppressing its own antisemitism taskforce’s recommendations. ...The Hill - Politics -
Garland in House spotlight as panels vote on advancing contempt of Congress resolutions
Politico - Politics -
Ethics Panel Cautions Juan Merchan, Judge in Trump Trial, Over Political Donations
Justice Juan M. Merchan, the judge overseeing Donald J. Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan, donated modest amounts to Democratic groups in 2020.The New York Times - Top stories - Donald Trump -
Biden Moves to Protect U.S. Solar Panel Makers From Cheap Chinese Imports
Added tariffs and better access to subsidies for domestically made panels will play to voters and could further the U.S. adoption rate for sustainable power equipment.Inc. - Business - Joe Biden
More from The Hill
-
Why Biden's China tariffs could hurt his climate agenda
As President Biden strives to prove his pro-manufacturing and anti-China credentials ahead of his likely election rematch with former President Trump, his far-reaching climate agenda could pay a price. Biden this past week hiked tariffs on ...The Hill - Politics -
Marijuana rescheduling moves businesses into ‘uncharted territory’
Marijuana business owners hoping to benefit from the Biden administration’s move to reschedule the drug may be in for disappointment, according to experts. The administration announced plans Thursday to move forward with a rule that would ...The Hill - Politics -
Biden’s Morehouse speech exposes his 2024 political problems
President Biden will set foot on a college campus Sunday for the first time since universities around the country became hotbeds for protests over the Israel-Hamas war. Biden is delivering a commencement speech at Morehouse College, an ...The Hill - Politics - Joe Biden -
Trump’s hush money defense in question as criminal trial nears close
Questions are flying about whether Donald Trump will put up a defense in his historic hush money criminal trial as the Manhattan district attorney’s office winds down its case-in-chief this week. The former president’s attorneys, it seems, don’t ...The Hill - Politics - Donald Trump -
Frustration with Netanyahu boils over on plans for Gaza after Hamas
Frustration is growing in Israel with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the war against Hamas and his growing split with President Biden, raising fears that the public tensions could invite increased attacks from Iran and its proxies ...The Hill - Politics - Israel