FIRST ON FOX: The House Oversight Committee will hold its first long-term hearing on the new Congress next week Telecommuting in the pandemic era for federal employees, with Chairman James Comer telling Fox News Digital that his priority is putting federal employees back in power.
The hearing, entitled the “Stay home Federal Workforce: Another Biden-Harris Administration Legacy” will take place on Wednesday, January 15 at 10 a.m.
Martin O’Malleythe former commissioner of the Social Security Administration; Rachel Greszler of the Economic Policy Innovation Center; and Federal City Council Board Chairman Tom Davis will testify.
Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, argues a point at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
O’Malley secured telework agreements for 42,000 Social Security employees through 2029 before the end of his term.
“President Donald Trump and his new administration will be greeted by largely vacant federal government office buildings as the federal workforce continues to benefit from the Biden administration’s outdated and harmful telework policies,” Comer told Fox News Digital. “Not only do these telework policies jeopardize the ability of agencies to provide essential services to the American people, but reports indicate the Biden administration is now working with federal employee unions to strengthen long-term guarantees for telework.”
Comer told Fox News Digital that the “agenda and critical services of President-elect Donald Trump’s federal government should not be hindered or prevented because of unchecked federal unions making stay-at-home deals with the Biden administration.”
Sunrise light falls on the dome of the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, January 2, 2025, as the 119th Congress begins. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
THE NATION’S LARGEST LABOR UNION FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYEES REJECTS GOP EFFORTS TO END TELEWORK
“It’s time for the federal workforce to get back to work in person for the American people,” he said. “The House Oversight Committee remains committed to ensuring that federal employees stand up for the American people they serve.”
According to a Senate report authored by Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, the federal government currently owns more than 7,000 vacant buildings and nearly 2,500 buildings that are partially vacant.
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The report states that government buildings currently have an average occupancy rate of 12%.
During the hearing, the committee plans to examine how the Biden-Harris administration “failed to return federal workers to the office,” saying this failure could “hinder the new Trump administration’s ability ‘ to bring them back, because of long-term guarantees. of teleworking in agreements entered into with federal employee unions.
