Acting Labor Secretary Subpoenaed by GOP House Chair

To put it mildly, the Biden administration is a bit perturbed by the actions of the Chair of the House Education and Workforce Committee.

Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) has issued a subpoena for the Department of Labor’s Acting Secretary, Julie Su.

Foxx believes that an event held for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was more of a political rally than an informative session.

Bring Her In

This administration has proven to be quite uncooperative in terms of answering to GOP-chaired committees, so this subpoena is not exactly surprising.

While the administration is livid, saying that the DoL has cooperated on every front, that is not the impression given by Acting Secretary Lu.

Foxx stated, “The Committee is asking for simple answers from OSHA and Acting Secretary Su. The fact that the Committee must issue a subpoena to compel the agency to do its job and be forthcoming is outrageous.

“That kind of behavior may fly in the Biden administration but not here. Every taxpayer dollar must be accounted for and used appropriately, and we will not rest until our questions are sufficiently answered.”

The Department of Labor acted stunned when the subpoena was issued, responding:

“We are baffled as to why the Committee has opted to issue a subpoena over an event that was publicized by the Department and covered by press outlets and participating organizations, including in summaries and blog posts on the Department’s official webpage.

“Far from being a ‘political rally,’ this event offered OSHA – the agency responsible for worker health and safety – an opportunity to hear from workers about health and safety issues.”

The subpoena is focused on OSHA’s “Workers’ Voice Summit,” which Foxx maintains was more of a political rally when it was supposed to be “focused on trends affecting workers and the need to foster open dialogue to identify workplace problems and find solutions.”

Foxx issued the subpoena because she maintains the Department of Labor has been “dismissive” of her requests.