Lawmakers demand data after department staff buyouts and deferred resignations; secretary cites litigation limits
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Summary
Members of the House Appropriations subcommittee pressed Secretary Chavez de Remer for numbers and details about staff reductions, deferred resignations, buyouts and personnel actions at the Department of Labor; the secretary repeatedly said litigation and ongoing processes limit what she could say and pledged to provide data when available.
House lawmakers used portions of the Labor appropriations hearing to seek immediate transparency about personnel actions at the Department of Labor, including deferred resignations, buyouts and staff placed on administrative leave.
Representative Hoyer and others asked the secretary for current full‑time equivalent (FTE) counts and for the number of employees who accepted buyouts or were placed on leave. The committee cited reports that large percentages of staff in certain offices — in particular, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs — were affected by personnel actions. Representative Hoyer repeatedly pressed the secretary for immediate figures and said the committee had asked for those counts in advance.
Secretary Chavez de Remer repeatedly said that some personnel matters are subject to litigation and that her office did not have final consolidated numbers to provide in the hearing. "Due to litigation, I can't comment on that right now," she said on several questions about staffing. She told lawmakers she would provide final numbers when the agency completes its internal confirmation process and brief the committee. At one point a Department representative stated that there are 15,000 employees at DOL and that the confirmation process would take about 45 days; the secretary said she would provide final counts to the committee when available.
Committee requests and next steps: Members asked for (1) counts of employees by agency who received reduction‑in‑force notifications; (2) the number of probationary employees terminated; and (3) counts of employees accepting early retirement offers. Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro and other Democrats said the information is necessary for the committee to evaluate budget and program impacts. The secretary committed to delivering the requested data when the Department has finalized its tallies but did not provide immediate figures beyond the status updates and references to litigation.