Posts tagged James Comer
Comer introduces bill to help small business owners
July 19, 2025 // Kentucky First District Congressman James Comer, R-Tompkinsville, has introduced the Save Local Business Act, which clarifies the joint employer standard to provide certainty for small business owners and workers across the country. Comer notes that in recent years, small businesses have suffered under unelected bureaucrats at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) who have dramatically expanded the definition of “joint employer” and implemented burdensome regulations for small businesses. “Congress must promote policies that empower small businesses and free them from stifling regulations pushed by an unchecked and unelected federal bureaucracy,”
Coalition Letter: Protecting Taxpayers’ Wallets Act
April 16, 2025 // Prior to the recent termination of collective bargaining rights for Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers, the Department of Homeland Security revealed that nearly 200 TSA officers were working full-time on union matters despite being paid salaries by the government. In FY2019, the most recent year for which the data is available, over 550 employees at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) were paid taxpayer dollars to perform union work. In another case, a union president has been allowed to occupy an executive suite that spans half of a hospital wing at the Salem VA Medical Center at taxpayer expense. Members of Congress recently introduced legislation to rectify this problem and prevent further squandering of tax dollars. The “Protecting Taxpayers’ Wallets Act of 2025,” introduced as H.R. 1210 by Congressman Scott Perry (R-Pa.) and S. 511 by Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), would give agencies the power to charge labor unions for their use of official time and their use of any agency resources such as office space and equipment.
Freedom Foundation Applauds OPM Directive to Report on Government Union Work
March 5, 2025 // In Nov. 2023, the Freedom Foundation reported that OPM had not only stopped reporting on the amount of official time used by federal employees — as it had done under presidents of both parties since the late 1990s — but had taken down the page on its website housing years of reports on the use and cost of official time to taxpayers, all while promoting expanded use of taxpayer-funded union time. The following month, citing the Freedom Foundation’s investigation, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and nine other Republican U.S. Senators sent an oversight letter to OPM demanding to know why the webpage was removed and whether OPM would publish any further updates on taxpayer-funded union time. After Biden’s OPM director responded that her agency had no intention of restoring the official time webpage, much less conducting another study on the costs of taxpayer-funded union time, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Rep. Scott Franklin (R-FL) introduced the Taxpayer-Funded Union Time Transparency Act, which would require each federal agency to track and annually report the amount of time its employees spend on union business and the cost of such official time to taxpayers.
House Oversight Republicans open Congress with rants against telework, unions
January 17, 2025 // Rachel Greszler, a visiting fellow at the conservative Economic Policy Innovation Center and a former Heritage Foundation and Project 2025 contributor, described actions like the Social Security-AFGE telework contract update as an effort to “Trump-proof” agency workforces and suggested Congress should pass legislation allowing presidents to reopen collective bargaining agreements upon assuming office. And they should ban official time, the practice by which agencies agree to pay union officials their normal salary for time spent on representational duties, like in collective bargaining negotiations or representing employees during grievances or disciplinary hearings.
Comer highlights bill challenging work from home deal for federal employees
December 4, 2024 // The protections target tens of thousands of Social Security staff and are part of several efforts in anticipation of Trump’s plan to reshape America’s workforce, Bloomberg first reported. The outlet noted that the American Federation of Government Employees, a union representing more than 40,000 employees, reached an agreement with the Social Security Administration (SSA) last week.
Lawmakers put federal agencies on notice after end to Chevron deference
July 12, 2024 // Comer noted that he has also joined lawmakers in sending letters to an array of agencies that face a similar review, including: AmeriCorps Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Council on Environmental Quality Department of Agriculture Department of Commerce Department of Education Department of Energy Department of the Interior Department of Health and Human Services Department of Homeland Security Department of Labor Department of State Department of Transportation Department of the Treasury Department of Veterans Affairs Environmental Protection Agency Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation National Credit Union Administration National Labor Relations Board Office of the Comptroller of the Currency Office of the United States Trade Representative Securities and Exchange Commission Small Business Administration Social Security Administration
Why Work from Home Jobs are Here to Stay for Federal Government Employees
May 31, 2023 // Given that passage into law would require a Democratic-controlled Senate and President Biden to go along, enactment of the Republican bill seems very unlikely. Potentially, Republicans could use passage of a final budget or even an increase of the debt ceiling, as a negotiation to push the measure into law, assuming they can get the votes. However, union agreements would still pose a serious challenge. The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) boasts a membership of over 281,000 individuals working in almost every agency of the federal and D.C. governments, spanning across 936 local unions. In December 2022, after prolonged legal battles with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the union announced that they had reached a settlement for immediate flexible work arrangements while they negotiate terms for a permanent telework program.
White House tells agencies to strike a balance between telework, in-office work
April 14, 2023 // “Today, the public is often dissatisfied with government services when compared against the private sector,” OMB said. “Agencies must ensure that all services, including public facing services, continue to meet and exceed customer expectations and needs.” Federal telework policy is up to each agency and based on individual situations. Agencies have the discretion to allow telework depending on their mission and business needs. The new guidance from the White House gained some early pushback. Federal unions and agency chief human capital officers were reportedly left out of the process of putting together the OMB memo.
Unions are “Baking In” Remote Work for Federal Employees
January 19, 2023 // But the prospect of conflict with union contracts, uncovered by TechTarget, adds a wrinkle to any plans. “Remote work policies are also getting baked into federal employee union agreements, which could make it difficult for federal agencies to order workers back to the office even if they wanted to,” the story said. The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) claims to be “made up of over 281,000 workers in almost every agency of the federal and D.C. governments, spread across 936 local unions.” In December 2022, after some extended legal struggles with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the union said that the two parties had reached a settlement over immediate flexible work arrangements “while we negotiate terms for a permanent telework program.”