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Rep. Ted Budd Urges Federal Agencies to Reopen to In-Person Work

Statement

By: Ted Budd
By: Ted Budd
Date: Feb. 1, 2022
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Business, Consumers, and Employees

Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC) joined 38 House members to send a letter to President Biden urging him to open all federal agencies to in-person work. This would ensure that timely constituent service is restored.

The letter was led by Rep. Ben Cline (R-VA).

Full text of the letter:

We write to express concerns that federal agencies under your administration have not maintained adequate levels of in-person work, despite having early access to the COVID-19 vaccine, reasonable accommodations for those who may not be able to receive a vaccine, reconfigured office spaces to allow for social distancing, and the installation of various technologies to distance staff from in-person customers.

Congress has appropriated trillions of dollars since the pandemic effectively began in March 2020. Now, almost two years later, the numerous reports of agencies that handle some of our constituents' requests operating at subpar level is indeed troubling. Some of the most profound examples, though certainly not all of them, include Personnel Records for our Veterans, the Social Security Administration for those with disabilities or those required to register prior to retirement, the Internal Revenue Service's processing of tax returns, the United States Postal Service's on time delivery, and the Small Business Administration's slow response to businesses attempting to access COVID-related programs. Make no mistake, these are just a few of the agencies we deal with on a day-to-day basis.

Therefore, we ask that you respond to this letter with the following information:

How many agencies are fully staffed and in-person? Please list these agencies.

Which agencies are partially staffed and in-person? Please list these agencies.

Of agencies partially staffed, how many have greater than 50% teleworking?

What is the total number of federal employees working remotely?

Do these agencies have plans in place to return to in-person work?

If not, what is impeding their return?

Your attention to our request is appreciated. We ask that you reply to this letter by February 28, 2022.


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