House panel again subpoenas Biden’s Labor chief over return-to-work plan

The House Education and Labor Committee on Monday subpoenaed Acting Labor Secretary Julie Hsu for “failing” to submit materials related to the Department of Labor’s return-to-work plan.

“Under Acting Secretary Su, [Department of Labor (DOL)] In a statement, Virginia Foxx, R.N.C., chairwoman of the commission, said in a statement: “There has been a clear failure to respond to the commission’s oversight requests, including vague answers and failure to provide requested materials.” Neglect has become the norm,” he said.

This came days after Mr Fox threatened to subpoena Mr Suh at last week’s committee hearing, when the Labor leader appeared before the committee.

Mr. Fox sent a letter to Mr. Su on March 6, questioning the department’s failure to submit a return-to-office policy despite the White House’s request for information. North Carolina Republican lawmakers had asked Suh to submit by March 20, but last week said not enough information had been turned over, and if no additional information was turned over, he would have until May 6 to do so. He threatened to summon Mr. Su.

“The Commission’s March 6 letter to the DOL requesting information regarding the Return to Work Action Plan remains unanswered. This is completely unacceptable,” Fox said in a statement. “Acting Secretary Hsu also asked for a copy of the DOL’s return-to-office plan that the White House had directed agencies to prepare and submit when appearing before the full committee on May 1st. I ignored it.”

Fox said the department handed over what he called an “insufficient” response to the March letter on April 18, which “failed to address the commission’s core requirements.” .

In Mr. Fox’s first letter to Mr. Sue, she pointed out: analysis A Government Accountability Office report found that the DOL and five other agencies use an estimated average of 23 percent of the headquarters’ space.

Fox called this “unacceptable,” pointing to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance issued in April 2023 encouraging federal employees to return to the office full-time.

“The committee needs an accurate understanding of the staffing situation at headquarters to ensure that the DOL is faithfully performing its duties in accordance with the law,” Fox wrote. “Furthermore, not having employees return to the office could expose taxpayers to significant waste, fraud, and abuse.”

The Hill has contacted the Department of Labor for further comment.

Suh’s nomination to replace former Labor Secretary Marty Walsh has faced numerous obstacles over the past year amid pushback from Senate Republicans.

Suh was nominated by President Biden to replace Walsh last March, but the nomination was never voted on in the Senate. By June, Democratic leaders appeared to have made little progress in persuading opponents to support her nomination.

She was nominated by Biden to be labor secretary in January, and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee advanced the nomination on a party-line vote in February.that not brought in yet I will go to the Senate floor and ask for a full vote.