The Republican-led House Oversight Committee threatened to subpoena members of the Biden administration over government agencies’ work-from-home policies that are still in effect despite the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a letter shared Monday.
The committee noted the Office of Management and Budget had instructed agencies in April to develop plans to increase the volume of in-person work but that no details on how many employees still work from home were provided to the committee despite its request.
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“The purpose of our oversight is to ensure that in the shift to widespread telework and remote work that agencies are able to hold employees accountable and accomplish their missions,” lawmakers wrote. “In the absence of relevant information, we are left to make assumptions and draw conclusions.”
The lawmakers claimed that a key concern of theirs is that federal agencies do not know how many employees are working remotely or how often.
“One of two options is currently playing out: either federal agencies are withholding information from Congress or federal agencies are not tracking telework and remote work policies as required by the law. Both possibilities are deeply concerning,” Chairman James Comer (R-KY) and committee members Pete Sessions (R-TX) and Lauren Boebert (R-CO) said in a joint statement on Monday.
“Committee Republicans remain steadfast in our pursuit of answers and if federal agencies continue to withhold this information, we will resort to compulsory measures,” they added.
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The letter, which was sent to multiple federal agencies, comes after an internal memo from the White House pushed Cabinet secretaries to bring more employees back to the office. White House chief of staff Jeff Zients said prioritizing in-person work was a priority of President Joe Biden and that the request should be fulfilled “aggressively” in September and October.
The committee gave the agencies until Aug. 18 to respond to their request.
