WASHINGTON- Subcommittee on Government Operations and the Federal Workforce Chairman Pete Sessions (TX-17), joined by House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (KY-01) and Congressman Scott Perry (PA-10), is conducting an inquiry into the use of “official time” by government employees for union activities. The lawmakers are requesting documents and information related to the use of official time by government employees through letters to top officials at 24 federal agencies.

In a recent hearing in the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability with the Acting Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Rob Shriver, committee members asked for transparency in federal employees’ use of “official time” to conduct union activities. Acting Director Shriver testified that federal union membership has increased in recent years, leading to questions on how federal agencies are tracking the impact of union activities on job performance.

“To ensure clarity in how taxpayer funds are allocated, it is essential that government agencies track when and how official time is used. A 2018 investigation by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs found ‘nearly one thousand [federal] employees… spend at least half their working hours as union representatives,’ meaning many employees ‘are being paid for work they were not hired to do without doing work they were hired to do.’ Because it is apparent that employees are conducting official union activities in hours that they would be performing their regular job, oversight through recording the use of official time is necessary,” said Congressman Sessions.