Su Ignores Subpoena, Congress Irked

Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su has ignored a Congressional subpoena issued last November and the electeds that issued the subpoena really want to know why.

For more than a year,  the House Education and the Workforce Committee has been trying to get answers from Su’s Department of Labor about the “Worker’s Voice” summit it sponsored a few weeks before the 2022 midterm election.

The summit – hosted by the labor department and featuring a number of other labor-related government agencies  was an invite-only event, with those invitations going to labor groups, unions, and other “advocacy” groups.  In other words, voices that are not necessarily pro “big labor” were shut out of the event.

Today, Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) demanded Su and the heads of other agencies in attendance comply with the subpoena and past committee orders and turn over the documents related to the event.

“Your failure to comply with the subpoena and the Committee’s previous requests is utterly beyond comprehension. This signals a new low for you and for DOL in not respecting Congress’s duty to conduct oversight,” Foxx wrote.

In November, Foxx’s committee issued a subpoena for the documents in question. While the labor department has provided some information, Foxx contends that what has been turned over is either “non-responsive,” not what was asked for, and/or simply not enough.

“Beyond merely being a Summit for workers to share their concerns with OSHA and to learn more about the agency, this multiday, closed-door, event was another example of the Biden administration mobilizing “all of government” for the specific benefit of organized labor,” wrote Foxx.  “The Summit included the participation of the Secretary of Labor, the Deputy Secretary of Labor, the Solicitor of Labor, the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board, the Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and heads of four other DOL agencies that are far afield from OSHA matters.”

This new, expanded barrage from the committee is the result of Su’s non-compliance with the subpoena, said a committee staffer.

The summit itself raises a number of questions – first, the timing.

The event – paid for by taxpayers – was held just a few weeks before the 2022 mid-term elections and featured only Biden administration and Democratic Party allies (hence Foxx’s assertion that it was a pre-vote “political pep rally.”

Second, while the event was publicly announced and received some press coverage (very minimal – one or two stories) it was not streamed and/or recorded in its entirety, both a bit odd for a large government shindig.

Third, many of the government agencies in attendance were in the middle of re-writing labor-related rules and regulations. In theory, input on said new rules is supposed to be taken equally from every side of an issue; the exclusive nature of the event brings up the suspicion that big labor was putting its thumb on the scales with the government using taxpayer funds to pay for and provide the scales itself.

Also, any such information gathered regarding specifics rules must be disclosed – this seems not to have happened:

“The Administrative Procedure Act does not preclude DOL from communicating with stakeholders in forums such as the Summit,” wrote Foxx.  “However, the Committee understands that DOL’s policy on ex parte communications obligates DOL to summarize any ex parte contacts and disclose them in the public docket. The Committee is unaware of OSHA or any other agency that participated in the Summit having made public disclosures about ex parte communications that occurred.”

In other words, what was said behind closed doors during the event is still secret.

Be that as it may, Su’s lack of transparency and cooperation raises another issue:  California.

Because California government officials are not used to being held accountable, being asked difficult questions, or being told that they can’t play politics on the taxpayer dime.  With the Sacramento uniparty in charge and a pathetically obsequious press corps, California politicians (see Su – https://thomas699.substack.com/p/one-down-one-to-go  Kamala Harris – https://thomas699.substack.com/p/kamala-in-tow  Eric Garcetti –  https://thomas699.substack.com/p/seven-slimy-senators-stifle-survivors Xavier Bacerra – https://thomas699.substack.com/p/about-last-week-3e6 – scroll down a bit,  etc.) tend to be shocked that they are being asked actual questions and become very annoyed that their brilliance and right to do as they wish is being intruded upon.

Letters like Foxx’s just don’t happen here. 

For example, can you imagine a state Assembly Committee publicly demanding more information from a department head and then actually demanding it again – and again – when ignored?  

No, you can’t.

That’s because the state’s pols are built in the same San Francisco factory and, while they may look different (they have to be diverse) they don’t think all too differently.  And they are never confronted with such pesky things as different opinions or even the facts.

Hence their defiance and confusion and obstinance when facing inconvenient truths.

Though it could be labor department in general – they didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Su – and the other agencies – have until March 27 to comply.