
House leaders James Comer and Marjorie Taylor Greene launch an investigation into the Biden Administration’s collective bargaining agreements, questioning their impact on federal workforce governance.
At a Glance
- House Oversight Committee investigates Biden Administration’s Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) with federal employee unions
- Probe focuses on potential use of CBAs to entrench telework and hinder Trump Administration’s agenda
- Investigation targets agreements made with the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE)
- Concerns raised about CBAs impeding President Trump’s efforts to reform federal workforce
- Push for federal employees to return to in-person work to enhance government operations
Congressional Investigation Launched
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman James Comer and Subcommittee Chairwoman Marjorie Taylor Greene have initiated a probe into the Biden Administration’s use of Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) with federal employee unions. The investigation aims to determine whether these agreements were strategically employed to entrench telework policies and potentially obstruct the Trump Administration’s agenda for federal workforce management.
The inquiry specifically targets the numerous CBAs negotiated between the Biden Administration and the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) prior to President Trump’s inauguration. Comer and Greene have requested detailed information from AFGE regarding the negotiation process of these agreements and their alignment with American interests.
At the heart of this investigation lies the concern that the Biden Administration may have used the federal collective bargaining process to create obstacles for President Trump’s governance of the federal workforce. The Oversight Committee is particularly focused on examining how these agreements were utilized towards the end of the Biden-Harris Administration.
“The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is investigating the use—and abuse—of the federal collective bargaining process outlined in 5 U.S.C. Ch. 71. This process was used extensively toward the end of the Biden-Harris Administration to negotiate Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) intended primarily, not to manage the workforce under its own watch, but to constrain the ability of President Donald Trump to do so. The Biden-Harris Administration’s CBAs unduly infringe on President Trump’s ability to exercise his broad authority to oversee the federal workforce and ensure the laws of the land are faithfully executed,” Chairman Comer and Subcommittee Chairwoman Greene said.
A notable example cited in the investigation is the admission by former Social Security Administration Commissioner Martin O’Malley of signing a last-minute CBA to guarantee telework privileges through 2029. Similar tactics were reportedly employed by the Biden Department of Education just before President Trump took office.
The investigation aligns with President Trump’s efforts to return federal employees to in-person work. On his first day in office, Trump signed an Executive Order requiring the termination of remote work arrangements and mandating full-time in-person attendance at respective duty stations for federal employees. This move aims to enhance governmental operational capabilities and improve service delivery to the American public.
The Oversight Committee has also released a report highlighting the Biden Administration’s efforts to secure high levels of telework with Democrat-backed federal labor unions. This report further underscores the potential conflict between the outgoing administration’s agreements and the incoming administration’s policy objectives.