Photo: Senate Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee
Washington — Inspectors and investigators employed by OSHA and the Mine Safety and Health Administration are exempt from taking part in the federal government’s deferred resignation program, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer clarified during a May 22 Senate subcommittee meeting on the Department of Labor’s fiscal year 2026 budget.
“For our inspectors and our investigators, who I think are key to the Department of Labor, the essential workers through OSHA, MSHA, and Wage and Hour Division, we have exempted from taking (part in) that program because they are essential to the Department of Labor for enforcement,” Chavez-DeRemer told members of the Senate Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee.
The White House hadn’t released a detailed budget before the hearing and instead provided a “skinny” budget in a May 2 letter to Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
In the White House’s budget request for FY 2026 is a roughly 35% deduction to DOL’s funding, or about $4.6 billion less than the $13.3 billion allocated to the department in FY 2025.
Part of that cut would likely come from the resignations of approximately 2,700 employees, a number that Chavez-DeRemer revealed to Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), the subcommittee’s ranking member. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s website lists a total workforce of 16,640 at DOL.
Potential MSHA office closures
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), who chairs the subcommittee, asked Chavez-DeRemer about three potential MSHA office closures in her home state.
The labor secretary noted that DOL is working with the General Services Administration, which is overseeing the office closures.
“I’m working with them and advocating for those leases to stay open throughout,” Chavez-DeRemer said. “It’s a critical mission to keep our investigators and inspectors to be there, to make sure they’re assisting, to make sure our miners are safe.”
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) asked about the possibility of state governments helping the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Chavez-DeRemer contended that BLS is independent of DOL. BLS publishes data on workplace fatalities and occupational injuries and illnesses each year, among other information.
“The Bureau of Labor Statistics is independent of the Department of Labor and will continue to be,” Chavez-DeRemer said. “The data is important, but it is independent of the Department of Labor. I can’t put my thumb on the scale for the collection of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.”
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Original article published by Safety+Health an NSC publication