As Joe Biden’s agency heads look for ways to “Trump-proof” the government just before Inauguration Day, two Republicans are trying to thwart their plans.
Biden’s presidency ends in 45 days and in these final weeks the Democrat’s handpicked bureau chiefs have struck long-term union deals that could limit the next administration’s control.
Republicans are concerned about this as these deals extend well into President-elect Trump’s next term.
For example, the head of the Social Security Administration (SSA), Martin O’Malley, just approved a deal with the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), a federal employee union with more than a million members, to extend the work-from-home policy until 2029 to capture. .
Trump has said he wants to implement policies that will get federal workers back to their offices, and that same goal is shared by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, the co-leads of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
But SSA’s deal with AFGE leaves 42,000 of SSA’s 60,000 employees (70 percent) locked into remote work deals. O’Malley left the SSA immediately after signing the deal.
Now House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer and new DOGE Subcommittee Chairman Marjorie Taylor Greene are demanding that these agencies suspend negotiations with unions and revenue documents and files related to their “Trump-proofing” efforts stop.
In a letter to the heads of the 24 executive agencies obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com, Comer and MTG explain that they are “investigating whether agency leaders are abusing federal labor laws…primarily to tie the hands of a future president .’
Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene, R-Ga., who will chair the DOGE subcommittee next year, along with Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, wrote a letter to the 24 executive agency chiefs demanding to know if they making last-minute deals with unions
Elon Musk (L), co-chairman of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with businessman Vivek Ramaswamy (R), has indicated that they want to get federal employees back to work full-time
Former SSA Commissioner Martin O’Malley signed a five-year labor agreement with a federal union just before leaving office. The deal could hamper Trump’s new SSA commissioner
“To avoid further impeding the new President’s ability to fulfill his mandate, we strongly urge the Biden-Harris Administration to cease negotiating or expanding collective bargaining agreements covering a workforce that she will have no responsibility in the future.’
The union agreements are a means to preserve Biden-era policies during the incoming administration and are “primarily intended to prevent the outgoing administration’s policies from being overturned,” the lawmakers wrote.
The Republican duo also explain in their letter how the union agreements cede presidential authority to unelected officials.
“To require a new president to negotiate with federal employee unions for the right to implement his policies is to cede executive power — not to Congress or the judiciary — but to selecting federal employees and the unions that represent them.”
“The Biden-Harris administration has not only failed to address long-standing issues of federal worker responsibility, but has also ceded presidential authority to run the federal government to union allies,” the lawmakers wrote.
“Furthermore, the Biden-Harris administration has actively sought to limit a future administration’s ability to effectively and responsibly manage workers.”
Like the SSA, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) also “Trump-proofed” itself by striking a deal with AFGE in May.
This agreement provides “scientific integrity” protections, intended to ensure the employee’s ability to speak to the media about their work. It also provides protection for employees who report misconduct from retaliation.
Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson unveiled DOGE’s first directive during remarks ahead of the newly formed DOGE caucus meeting on Thursday
While visiting lawmakers on Thursday, Musk floated the idea of starting a ‘Naught or Nice’ list to track lawmakers’ votes on spending
But Republicans on the Oversight Committee believe that the EPA’s efforts are intended “to entrench far-left progressive policies in the administrative state” and “discredit scientific information and views that are inconsistent with mainstream consensus.’
Justice Department officials are also working to secure union representation before Trump takes office, and some employees are currently in talks with the National Treasury Employees Union.
Musk and Ramaswamy met with Greene, Comer and other lawmakers on Thursday to discuss how best to reduce “government waste.”
Previously, DOGE co-leaders wrote in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, describing in part how they plan to do that.
“Requiring federal employees to come into the office five days a week would result in a wave of voluntary terminations, which we welcome,” they wrote.
They have also suggested canceling daylight saving time as a way to reduce costs.
While walking around Capitol Hill this week, Musk even made the cheeky suggestion of creating a “naughty or nice” list in Congress to track members’ votes on spending.
Biden-era policies could extend into Trump’s presidency because of long-term union deals, Greene and Comer warn
Ahead of his meeting with Musk and Ramaswamy on Thursday, Chairman Mike Johnson announced the first DOGE-related policy the House will tackle.
“One of the first things I think you’ll see is the demand from the new administration, and from all of us in Congress, that federal employees return to their desks.”
“We have long complained about the size and scope of government, that it has become too big,” Johnson said at the event.
‘Let me be honest about it: the government is too big, it does too much and almost nothing well.’