Representative Foxx Conducts Investigation into Private Meeting with Labor Leaders

Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., chair of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, wrote letters to three top government officials on Wednesday requesting information about a closed-door summit held by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) with organized labor leaders.

OSHA’s “Worker’s Voice Summit” took place behind closed doors in the fall of 2022 and was attended by several Biden administration officials and organized labor leaders. The committee suggested in a news release that “federal labor agencies, led by OSHA, set policies based on the Summit in a way that favored Big Labor while denying other stakeholders proper consideration.”

Department of Labor Acting Secretary Julie Su, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Chair Charlotte Burrows, and National Labor Relations Board general counsel Jennifer Abruzzo received letters from Foxx.

Foxx wrote in a letter to Su that she was subpoenaed on Nov. 21, 2023, for information about the summit and has not yet responded.

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

As part of the committee’s investigation, Foxx obtained an agenda of the summit and a list of organizations in attendance.

“These materials make clear that this three-day Summit, which began on September 27, 2022, was more than just an OSHA event focused on worker-oriented stakeholders. It was a closed-door event that included the heads of many of the Biden administration’s most active and influential labor agencies,” Foxx wrote in her letter to Abruzzo.

In her letter to Burrows, Foxx wrote, “It was a closed-door event that included the heads of many of the Biden administration’s most active and influential labor agencies. Notes prepared for OSHA Assistant Secretary Douglas Parker identified you as a participant who made remarks at the Summit.”

Foxx requested a copy of Burrow’s remarks, a list of all EEOC employees who attended the summit, and an explanation of when and how she and other employees participated. Foxx requested similar information from Su and Abruzzo.

Foxx gave the recipients until March 27 to comply with her requests.