Tammy Baldwin Questions Labor Secretary on Workforce Reductions and Programmatic Delays

Oversight of Department of Labor Spending and Staffing

• 📌 Senator Baldwin questioned the Labor Secretary regarding the timely submission of a spending plan for fiscal year 2025.
• 💬 Commitments were sought for periodic updates to the appropriations committee staff on ongoing reviews of funding allocations and implementation of appropriations law.
• ⚠️ The Senator also requested notification of any programmatic delays in spending appropriated funds.

Workforce Reductions and Deferred Resignations

• 📊 The Secretary confirmed that approximately 2700 employees have opted for the Deferred Resignation Program (DRP).
• 🛡️ Essential workers, including inspectors and investigators for OSHA, EMHA, and the wage and hour division, have been exempted from the DRP due to their critical enforcement roles.
• 🏛️ The administration's executive order 14210 aims for large-scale reductions in the federal workforce, with information provided to employees suggesting significant near-term changes.

Impact of Staffing Reductions on Agency Mission

• 📉 Senator Baldwin expressed concern that the administration's actions, including paying staff not to work, undermine the department's mission to support American workers.
• 📉 Specifically, she highlighted that approximately 20% of the Department of Labor's staff have been affected by these reductions.
• 💼 The Employee Benefits Security Administration (EPSA) is noted to have lost about 25% of its staff, impacting its ability to protect the benefits of over 156 million American workers and retirees.
• ❓ A key question was whether an evaluation was conducted on the impact of a 25% staff reduction at EPSA before implementation.
• 🔍 The Secretary committed to providing an evaluation on the impact of staff cuts on protecting workers' benefits and stated a desire to understand the operations of each agency.