Walsh Pitches Planned Hiring Spree for Wage, Safety Inspectors

The Biden administration’s top labor official tried to convince Senate appropriators Wednesday to boost spending to hire more federal investigators, previewing the potential for heightened policing of wage and safety standards at businesses nationwide.

Labor Secretary Marty Walsh asked a Senate Appropriations subcommittee for funding to double the number of occupational safety inspectors by the end of President Joe Biden‘s current four-year term and staff up the wage-hour investigators who scrutinize employer payroll records.

“The Department of Labor is down about 3,000 employees from where it was four years ago,” Walsh said, testifying before the panel in control of ...