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GOP Lawmakers Target Telework and Unions at Federal Agencies
Republican members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee are kicking off the year with strong criticisms of telework practices and unions within federal agencies. This continued focus mirrors their approach from previous years.
During a hearing titled ‘The Stay-at-Home Federal Workforce,’ Committee Chairman James Comer from Kentucky attributed staffing issues, particularly at the Social Security Administration, to what he perceives as a lenient approach from the Biden administration towards federal workers, highlighting their ability to work remotely as a significant factor in service backlogs intensified by the COVID-19 crisis.
“When President Trump’s team visits the federal agency offices in the Washington, D.C. area, they’ll find them largely vacant due to the Biden administration’s reluctance to end pandemic-era telework policies,” Comer asserted.
However, this portrayal of remote work as detrimental to productivity is challenged by recent data. Information from May 2024, sourced from the Office of Management and Budget, indicated that only 54% of federal workers are eligible for telework, with approximately 80% of all government work hours being conducted in person. Even among those who do telework, they average over 61% of their hours in the office.
Additionally, the Congressional Budget Office noted that federal employees transitioned back to in-person work more swiftly than private-sector workers.
The Social Security Administration was particularly scrutinized during the hearing, mainly due to former Commissioner Martin O’Malley’s agreement with the American Federation of Government Employees to modify their union contract, which would lock current telework policies in place until 2029.
Critics, including Comer, expressed concern that this agreement could hamper the effectiveness of the incoming Trump administration. Prominent figures like Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have floated ideas about dramatically reducing telework to encourage federal employees to exit their positions.
In response to questioning from Comer, O’Malley defended the agreement, explaining that it averaged a potential risk of $10 to $20 million for the agency due to unresolved grievances. He indicated that previous settlements in similar cases had already imposed significant financial liabilities on the agency.
“All of my efforts at the SSA focused on enhancing customer service,” O’Malley stated, emphasizing the essential role of telework in maintaining operations amid staff shortages, which have reached 50-year lows. Notably, the agency recorded a 6% productivity increase in 2024 under the existing telework framework.
O’Malley remarked on the agency’s improved efficiency, comparing the current virtual format of disability hearings to pre-COVID in-person sessions, which had previously strained resources.
GOP Representative Glenn Grothman queried O’Malley about the excluded language in the contract that would allow management to alter telework agreements for operational necessities. O’Malley clarified that while management could indeed pause such agreements, they could not fully terminate telework policies.
Rachel Greszler, a fellow at the Economic Policy Innovation Center advocating for reform, characterized the Social Security union’s contract changes as an effort to insulate agency policies from future administrations. She suggested that legislators should authorize incoming presidents to revisit collective bargaining agreements and eliminate the practice of compensating union officials for representational duties.
According to Greszler, “While telework can offer benefits, unchecked usage could facilitate abuses and prompt the imposition of sweeping measures.” She recommended optimizing office space utilization and revising pay structures to safeguard taxpayer interests while ensuring effective governance.
In contrast, Democratic Representative Jasmine Crockett highlighted a notable instance just before Biden’s presidency when the acting Deputy Homeland Security Secretary signed a contract providing the union for Immigration and Customs Enforcement employees with veto power over agency policy changes.
Representative Melanie Stansbury from New Mexico contended that the focus of the hearing extended beyond telework and aimed at diminishing the federal workforce and weakening union influence. She said, “This isn’t merely about work-from-home guidelines; it’s about dismantling the federal workforce as per the incoming administration’s agenda.”
Stansbury’s remarks suggest a broader strategy at play, pointing to the expressed intentions of key panel co-chairs to abolish telework as a means of prompting large-scale departures among federal employees.
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