Two Democratic members of Congress are demanding that the acting secretary of Labor explain planned mass dismissals and the dismantling of an agency that was reviewing Elon Musk’s Tesla for suspected discrimination.
In a Feb. 27 letter obtained by The Standard, U.S. Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-Va.) said staffing cuts and the withholding of contract and grant payments within the Department of Labor could put “American workers at risk of economic dislocation, disabling illness and injury, and even premature death.”
The letter was prompted by the planned downsizing of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs by 90% and other mass dismissals inside the department — all, or most, spawned by Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. The letter seeks a detailed accounting of what is going on inside the Labor Department.
“We need a focused accounting of any staffing reductions and spending rescissions so that we can assess the consequences for the Labor Department’s capacity to get things done for American workers,” the members wrote to acting Labor Secretary Vince Micone.
The letter requests the names and assignments of all employees fired or dismissed since Trump took office. It asks for a list of every grant, contract, or spending allocation rescinded and a list of the lead DOGE employees working in the agency. The lawmakers are also seeking all communications, inside and outside of the agency, about dismissals, downsizing, and the rationale for each firing.
While the House is controlled by Republicans, House minority staffers say they hope to shine a light on the actions of the agency and get answers about what is happening and why. They have given Micone two weeks to respond.
Among the agencies affected by downsizing or planned mass dismissals are the Mine Safety and Health Administration and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, which ensures federal contractors that employ a fifth of the U.S. workforce maintain employee civil rights.
The OFCCP enforced equal employment laws for federal contractors and was auditing Tesla when President Donald Trump signed a Jan. 21 executive order that all but halted the agency’s operations. That investigation was still underway, and the findings had not been made public. The agency’s demise was first reported by The Standard last month.
Trump’s mandate rescinded a 1965 order that created the agency. Still, it was given statutory oversight by Congress to make sure veterans and people with disabilities do not face workplace discrimination. The agency retains that authority despite the order.
However, a Feb. 25 memo by Micone said the administration aims to further gut the agency by reducing its 500-person workforce by 90% and consolidating field offices and regional headquarters.
“With this proposal, OFCCP would maintain a total workforce of 50 employees,” Micone wrote. Those left over would continue to oversee the agency’s responsibilities around ensuring veterans and people with disabilities do not face discrimination.
Micone’s plan would shutter most of the agency’s 55 branches, including all field offices, and consolidate most work to four regional sites, each with a planned workforce of just nine employees. Under the plan, the national office will have 14 employees. The memo admitted that agency leaders don’t know how many probationary workers had been fired or how many employees had taken DOGE’s early retirement offer.
An employee who spoke with The Standard on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation said the agency has been knee-capped and that this plan would leave so few employees that its remaining responsibilities would be impossible to fulfill.
“The biggest loss of blowing up OFCCP is there will no longer be an agency that proactively audits any federal contractor in the U.S. to ensure that U.S. taxpayer money is not funding discriminatory employment practices,” the employee said.
The other federal agency that investigates workplace discrimination is the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Unlike the OFCCP, it launches investigations only after receiving complaints.
The OFCCP was created by President Lyndon Johnson to ensure that federal contractors do not discriminate against employees on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. It oversees approximately one-fifth of the U.S. labor force by regulating the practices of private companies that contract with the federal government.
In his order, Trump deemed the agency an “illegal” diversity, equity, and inclusion program. On Jan. 24, Micone ordered staff to stop all work.
The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, a blueprint for a right-wing takeover of government, advocated for the elimination of the agency.