House Republicans Vote to Turn Back Time on Telework – By Erich Wagner (Defense One) / Feb 02, 2023
The SHOW UP Act would require federal agencies to revert to their pre-pandemic telework policies.
The House voted 221-206 mostly along party lines on Wednesday to pass legislation requiring federal agencies to revert to their pre-pandemic telework policies, although the measure is likely to meet stiff resistance in the Democratically controlled Senate.
The Stopping Home Office Work’s Unproductive Problems Act (H.R. 139), introduced by Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., would require agencies to “reinstate and apply the telework policies, practices and levels . . . in effect on December 31, 2019” within 30 days of the bill’s enactment. If agencies want to expand telework beyond 2019 levels, they would have to submit to Congress a plan certified by the Office of Personnel Management.
The legislation also requires a study of how telework during the pandemic impacted agencies’ missions and customer services.
Comer accused the Biden administration of offering “another perk” to federal workers instead of improving services that were reduced during the COVID-19 pandemic, citing long lines at Social Security Administration offices and other federal-agency backlogs.
