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Chair Foxx Demands Answers on Biden, Harris Use of Taxpayer Dollars to Boost Government Unions’ Priorities

WASHINGTON, D.C., October 9, 2024
WASHINGTON – Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) today continued the Committee’s fight for answers and accountability as the Biden-Harris administration uses taxpayer dollars to prioritize the interests of government unions ahead of delivering for the American people. 

Addressing Department of Labor (DOL) Acting Secretary Julie Su, National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Chairman Lauren McFerran, and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Chair Charlotte Burrows, Chairwoman Foxx highlights the numerous capitulations to labor unions. Chief among them is the refusal to return federal employees to full-time, in-person work, and efforts to cover up the practice of “official time,” including the administration’s failure to produce a report on the time federal employees spend performing union duties.

In the letters, Foxx writes: “However, instead of applying that mission to all U.S. workers, the Biden-Harris administration has sought to do favors for its political allies. Time and again, the Biden-Harris administration has promoted one-sided policies for the benefit of union bosses.”  

The letters continue: “Following the wishes of federal labor unions, Biden-Harris agencies—including [DOL, the NLRB, and EEOC]—have failed to return their employees to full-time, in-person work, as was the case before March 2020. The Biden-Harris administration has also covered up the practice of 'official time,' which permits federal employees to engage in union activities during work hours instead of focusing on the public service they were hired to do. Despite previous Republican and Democrat administrations publicly reporting on the time federal employees spend performing union duties, the Biden-Harris administration’s Office of Personnel Management has failed to release such a report and has removed past reports from its website.”

The letters also provide examples of the types of issues federal agencies and unions have negotiated in recent years, at the taxpayers’ expense: “While it would be impossible to list all instances of negotiations over federal workplace minutia, examples include the addition of 14 inches in the height of cubicle desk panels (and ’modesty panels’ extending below the desk); designated smoking areas on an otherwise tobacco-free campus; and federal employees’ right to wear shorts, sweatpants, and spandex at work.” 

The letter concludes by requesting information on the spending of the agencies for Fiscal Years 2021, 2022, and 2023:
  • The total compensation paid to DOL, NLRB, and EEOC employees to negotiate collective bargaining agreements or to work with federal labor unions;
  • Travel and lodging expenses paid or reimbursed to DOL, NLRB, and EEOC employees and union staff in order to negotiate collective bargaining agreements;
  • Expenses paid for retaining experts, factfinders, mediators, and arbitrators relating to collective bargaining agreements or disputes;
  • Cost of administrative support and purchasing supplies—including acquiring technology—to administer collectively bargained agreements;
  • The fair market value of space controlled by the federal agencies provided to labor unions;
  • Expenses paid for “official time;”
  • The number of hours DOL, NLRB, and EEOC employees spend on official time, as well as the number of employees who use official time—particularly those who spend more than 50 percent of their hours on official time; and 
  • Penalties levied related to collective bargaining with labor unions, including but not limited to arbitration awards or monetary settlements provided to workers or unions because of unfair labor practices related to collective bargaining.
The letter to DOL can be read here. 
The letter to the NLRB can be read here. 
The letter to EEOC can be read here. 
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