{"id":2261387,"date":"2024-06-06T14:00:02","date_gmt":"2024-06-06T18:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-oversight-launches-inquiry-into-federal-employees-engaging-in-union-activities-while-on-duty\/"},"modified":"2024-06-06T14:07:38","modified_gmt":"2024-06-06T18:07:38","slug":"house-oversight-launches-inquiry-into-federal-employees-engaging-in-union-activities-while-on-duty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-oversight-launches-inquiry-into-federal-employees-engaging-in-union-activities-while-on-duty\/","title":{"rendered":"House Oversight Committee investigates federal employees conducting union activities during work hours"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhouse-oversight-launches-inquiry-into-federal-employees-engaging-in-union-activities-while-on-duty%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2261387&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The House Oversight Committee is launching an \u2063investigation into federal employees&#8217; engagement in \u200bunion\u200c activities during work hours. This inquiry aims to assess possible misuse of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/rush-to-judgement-three-crucial-questions-remain-unanswered-about-capitol-siege\/\" title=\"Rush to judgement? Three crucial questions remain unanswered about Capitol siege\">official time<\/a> by employees across various government agencies. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/phone-location-data-on-jan-5-pipe-bomber-may-have-been-corrupted-fbi-official\/\" title=\"FBI official suspects Jan. 5 pipe bomber's phone location data may be 'corrupted'.\">committee seeks transparency<\/a> to ensure \u2064efficient agency operations amidst concerns of\u200d official time abuse, emphasizing\u2062 the impact on taxpayer funds \u2062and overall service quality.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><strong>EXCLUSIVE \u2014<\/strong> The <a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/house-oversight\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>House Oversight<\/a> Committee is kickstarting an investigation into how often government employees engage in <a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/unions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>union<\/a> activities while on the clock.<\/p>\n<p>House Oversight Committee Chairman <a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/james-comer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>James Comer<\/a> (R-KY), Oversight Subcommittee on Government Operations and the Federal Workforce Chairman Pete Sessions (R-TX), and Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) sent letters to the 23 agencies on Wednesday requesting documents and information related to employees engaging in union duties on government time.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>\u201cTaxpayers deserve to know when their dollars are funding union activities and whether federal workers are abusing their time on the job,\u201d said House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-KY) in a statement sent exclusively to the <em>Washington Examiner. <\/em><\/p>\n<p>Comer added, \u201cGovernment agencies need to be more transparent with Congress and the American people about the extent to which federal employees are using official time to conduct union activities. The Committee has seen reports of widespread abuse of official time and we are concerned about the impact this has on agency operation.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Among the agencies are all 15 executive departments, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Social Security Administration, NASA, the Small Business Administration, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the National Science Foundation, the Agency for International Development, and the General Services Administration. <\/p>\n<p>In the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-mccarthy-demands-house-managers-open-up-the-capitol\/\" title=\"EXCLUSIVE: McCarthy Demands House Managers Open Up The Capitol\">letter shared exclusively<\/a> with the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>, the Republicans write that they are investigating official time activities due to the \u201cwidespread abuse\u201d of the practice that allows certain federal employees to use official time for collective bargaining purposes. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cOfficial time abuse is particularly striking when employees dedicate all their working<br \/>hours to union activity,\u201d the members wrote. \u201cCases of 100 percent official time use create conditions for federal employees\u2019 skills to atrophy as they forget how to, or otherwise lose the ability to, perform the jobs they were hired to perform.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis risk exists for any employees whose union activities regularly separate them from performing their actual job functions, meaning overuse of official time poses risks for smooth agency operations, efficiency, and quality customer service, among other areas,\u201d the members continued.<\/p>\n<p>The GOP leaders argued the Biden administration should support transparency requests for the use of official time given that President Joe Biden has dubbed himself the most \u201cpro-union\u201d president in history.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPuzzlingly, the Biden Administration has instead gone out of its way to undermine transparency around official time use,\u201d the members said.<\/p>\n<p>The Oversight Committee pointed to the Office of Personnel Management deleting time reports, which the office later said was a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/white-house-scrubs-webpage-showing-taxpayers-fund-union-activities\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>clerical issue<\/a>, and later permanently removing online disclosures of official time use data with \u201cno plans to restore them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn other words, OPM has not posted any official time reports since the Biden Administration began,\u201d the members wrote.<\/p>\n<p>The committee is asking for all of the agencies to provide the requested information by June 20. Among the requested information is the total number of all employees in a particular agency who used 100% official time during fiscal years 2021, 2022, and 2023, as well as their salaries; the total number of employees who used official time in any amount during those time periods; and the aggregate number of official time used by agency employees and the costs the agency accrued during those time periods. <\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This is the latest example of House Republicans conducting oversight when it comes to federal employment, including the use of telework and returning to in-person following the conclusion of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Office of Personnel Management Director, Kiran Ahuja, testified on Capitol Hill in 2023 regarding in-person workforce numbers, with Republicans <a href=\"https:\/\/oversight.house.gov\/release\/opm-has-failed-american-taxpayers-and-needs-to-ensure-prompt-service-to-all-americans%EF%BF%BC\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>blasting Ahuja<\/a> for not being able to specify how many workers were going in person to their offices.<\/p>\n<p>In April, the Oversight Committee held a <a href=\"https:\/\/oversight.house.gov\/release\/comer-opens-oversight-hearing-on-ombs-operations%EF%BF%BC\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>hearing<\/a> to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cnn-guest-on-biden-the-bombs-hes-dropping-on-syria-kind-of-expensive-for-a-dude-who-owes-me-2000\/\" title=\"CNN Guest On Biden: The Bombs He\u2019s Dropping On Syria \u2018Kind Of Expensive For A Dude Who Owes Me ,000\u2019\">conduct oversight<\/a> of the Office of Management and Budget, stating that the agency \u201cfailed to prioritize effective, data-driven decisions that would benefit taxpayers.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The House Oversight Committee initiates an inquiry into federal employees&#8217; involvement in union activities during work hours. Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY), Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), and Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) have issued letters to 23 agencies to investigate the matter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2648,"featured_media":2261388,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/AP24143606587264-1.jpg.optimal.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2261387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/AP24143606587264-1.jpg.optimal.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2261387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2648"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2261387"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2261387\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2261388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2261387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2261387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2261387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}