Foxx Subpoenas Labor Department’s Su Over Return-to-Office Plan

The chairwoman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce subpoenaed Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su over the DOL’s return-to-office plan following a warning during a congressional hearing last week.

Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) is compelling Su to provide the panel with the Department of Labor’s plan to increase workers’ in-person attendance. The White House asked department heads to report their return-to-office plans to the Office of Management and Budget by Jan. 26.

But Foxx told Su the Department hasn’t shared the plan with the committee, which she said has not persuaded the panel “that DOL is taking the transition back to in-person work seriously.” Foxx had sent Su an earlier letter on March 8 requesting data on employees working at the office.

“My previous letter raised the concern that pandemic-style remote work policies do not reflect post-pandemic realities,” Foxx said in a letter accompanying the subpoena. “The Committee now seeks documents on DOL’s return-to-office action plan to ensure accountability for taxpayers who are paying for an absentee federal government that ceased regular operations nearly four years ago.”

Foxx warned Su during an oversight hearing last week that the acting secretary would have until Monday to provide the panel with the requested information voluntarily. House committee chairs have the right to compel testimony and the production of documents through a subpoena.