House Pushes IGs to Investigate Federal Agency Reopenings

Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., sent letters to 24 federal inspectors general Monday requesting they investigate agency reopening plans as some agencies begin calling employees back to work.

The letters to IGs follow previous attempts by Connolly, who chairs the subcommittee on Government Operations, to solicit reopening plans and similar information from the Office of Management and Budget.

“The health and safety of federal employees is of paramount concern,” Connolly said. “We need to ensure that Administration officials are cautious and prudent when requiring federal employees and contractors to return to federal office buildings.”

The letters ask IGs to review “whether your department and its managers are employing best practices and existing guidance when deciding whether or when to require federal employees and contractors to return to federal office buildings.” Further, Connolly asks the IGs to develop an assessment plan to review each agency’s reopening efforts.

Plans could include:

• Methodology to assess whether actions that department officials take to require employees to return to federal offices are based on evidence and research and meet best practices and guidance.
• Baseline metrics on various important indicators that will allow for future examination of department office re-opening plans, including the number of employees who contract the coronavirus.
• Assessment of department access to appropriate volumes of critical resources, including reliable coronavirus tests, personal protective equipment, hand sanitizer, soap and warm water, workplace dividers, and disinfectant.
• Assessment of department protocols for when an employee tests positive for coronavirus.
• Evaluation of inter-department collaboration, especially with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, to ensure re-opening plans are consistent with public health and worker safety guidelines.
• Any additional information or data that will facilitate a thorough assessment of department policies and actions at this critical juncture.

Connolly makes an additional request to Sean O’Donnell, the acting inspector general for the Defense Department. Connolly seeks an investigation into the death of Chai Suthammanont, a food service worker at the Quantico Marine Corps Base who died on May 26 due to coronavirus complications.

“Given the many shortcomings identified in the Administration’s reopening guidelines, as well as the Administration’s unwillingness to engage in even minimal oversight of its abysmal response to the coronavirus pandemic, we request that you carefully oversee and review your department’s actions in this area,” Connolly said.