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Biden HHS Secretary Unable To Say How Many Gov’t Workers Actually Show Up To Work In Federal Buildings

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Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra was unable to say during a Wednesday hearing how many workers in the department actually show up to work in federal buildings.

“Can you give a breakdown of how many full time employees are at their desk in one of these buildings every day?” Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana asked Becerra during a Senate Committee on Health Education Labor & Pensions hearing.

“When you take a look at the workforce at HHS, and we’re close to 90,000 throughout the country, and working in various parts of the country,” Becerra said.

Similarly, Democratic lawmakers came under fire in 2022 for using liberalized vote-by-proxy rules to attend events and take trips on the dime of taxpayers and donors.

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Republican Rep. James Comer of Kentucky introduced the SHOW UP Act, which eliminates expanded telework options put in place to address the COVID-19 pandemic, Jan. 9. The House of Representative passed the bill by a 221-206 vote Feb. 1, and sent it to the Democratic-controlled Senate, which has not put the legislation up for a vote.

“How many are at their desk as opposed to being at home, or someplace else, the coffee shop or whatever?” Cassidy asked Becerra, after the cabinet secretary said that the department’s employees were working full time.

“What we make sure we care about is that they’re performing and they’re delivering,” Becerra said.

“That’s not really answering my question,” Cassidy replied.

Similar legislation to restrict telework by government employees was introduced in May 2022 by Republican Rep. Yvette Herrell of New Mexico, with supporters citing issues with a backlog of passport applications and tax returns.