‘Back to work’: House Oversight Department will accept government remote working in first hearing of new Congress
First up is Fox: The House Oversight Committee will hold its first hearing of the new Congress next week, focusing on federal employees’ prolonged telework during the pandemic, and Chairman James Cuomo told Fox News Digital that his top priority is to keep federal employees Return to the office.
The hearing, “Federal Workforce from Home: Another Legacy of the Biden-Harris Administration,” is scheduled for Wednesday, January 15, at 10 a.m.
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Martin O’Malley, former Social Security Administration administrator; Rachel Greszler of the Center for Economic Policy Innovation; and Federal City Council Board Chairman Tom Davis will testify.
Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, makes a point at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
O’Malley locked in telework agreements for 42,000 Social Security employees through 2029 through the end of his term.
“President Donald Trump and his incoming administration will usher in mostly vacant federal office buildings as the federal workforce continues to capitalize on the Biden administration’s outdated and harmful pandemic-era legacy,” Cuomo told Fox News Digital. Teleworking policies. “Not only do these teleworking policies jeopardize agencies’ ability to provide vital services to the American people, but reports indicate that the Biden administration is now working with federal employee unions to solidify long-term teleworking protections.”
Cuomo told Fox News Digital that President-elect Donald Trump’s “agenda and critical services provided by the federal government should not be hindered or blocked because of unfettered federal unions entering into a stay-at-home agreement with the Biden administration.”
The rising sun illuminates the dome of the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, January 2, 2025, as the 119th Congress opens. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
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“It’s past time for the federal workforce to work in person for the American people,” he said. “The House Oversight Committee remains committed to ensuring federal employees are serving the American people they serve.”
The federal government currently has more than 7,000 vacant buildings and nearly 2,500 partially vacant buildings, according to a Senate report written by Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst.
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The report pointed out that the current average occupancy rate of government buildings is 12%.
During the hearing, the committee plans to examine why the Biden-Harris administration has “failed to bring federal workers back to their offices,” saying that failure could “impede” the incoming Trump administration’s efforts to bring federal workers back to their offices due to long-standing guarantees. They brought back the ability to telecommute in offices under an agreement signed with the Federal Employees Union.
