Angela Alsobrooks Advocates For 'Back Pay' To Be Provided For Reinstated HUD Workers

Forbes Breaking News

During Thursday's Senate Banking Committee hearing, Senator Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) advocated for back pay for the workers who were fired and later reinstated by the Trump administration.

Transcript

00:00and go to Senator Alsell Brooks. Thank you so much, Chair Scott, Ranking Member Warren.

00:06Thank you for hosting today's hearing, and I want to say congratulations to all of the nominees,

00:11and thank you also for your willingness to serve. I have a few quick questions. First,

00:16for Mr. Hughes and Mr. Wohl. As Deputy Secretary and General Counsel of HUD, respectively,

00:22you will oversee the day-to-day management of an organization responsible for

00:26lowering housing costs, and so I want to understand how you will treat the federal workers

00:32who will be responsible for carrying out this work, many of whom you know are my constituents.

00:38So as a judge ruled in late March that the administration broke the law by firing

00:43probationary workers from many agencies, and following this ruling, a federal judge in Maryland

00:48issued a ruling requiring affected employees to be reinstated at several agencies, including HUD,

00:56on March 17th, HUD reinstated over 300 fired probationary employees. They told them that

01:02they would be reinstated, but that they should cancel all of their unemployment claims because

01:07they would receive back pay and benefits. However, on March 24th, these same employees received a

01:14second email from HUD stating that HUD would not provide employees with back pay for the time that

01:21they were illegally out of work. HUD also denied their continuation of traditional health insurance

01:26coverage. So Mr. Hughes and Mr. Wohl, I don't have to tell you how wrong this is. I sent a letter along

01:33with Senator Van Hollen, Warner, and Kane to Secretary Turner asking why the department is refusing

01:38to provide rehired probationary workers with back pay. So will you both commit, pursuant to the law,

01:45and in concert with the law to immediately provide back pay to restore as well health benefits according

01:51to the law to all recently reinstated HUD employees? Thank you for the question, Senator. I look forward

01:59to discussing that issue with you, and it's my understanding that that's currently under litigation,

02:04so I can't comment on that, but I would like to discuss with you at the appropriate time

02:08and have a deeper conversation on that issue. It's not under litigation. The judge,

02:12the court already ruled that these workers were entitled to back pay, and what we know is that the,

02:19as we've seen very often with this administration, they are not complying with the law. The order said

02:24that they had to be reinstated and be given back pay. Senator, it's my understanding that it still

02:29is ongoing, but I can tell you one thing that we will absolutely follow the law. I can promise you that.

02:34Mr. Wohl? Senator, as you know, if I were to be confirmed as general counsel,

02:40my counsel to HUD would always be to follow the law and the Constitution. To the extent that

02:47employees are owed any back pay, any benefits, we will absolutely make sure that we're in compliance

02:52with all applicable federal laws that protect employees. Okay, and so you would reinstate

02:57those, that back pay, when you, if you were to learn, and I'm sure you will, that they have been

03:03denied that back pay. Senator, if I've learned that we have done something that is inconsistent

03:09with the law, we will take appropriate action to become compliant with the law, and we will always

03:16follow court orders. Thank you. Okay, just a couple of other quick questions to Ms. Bowman. I wanted

03:22to just ask you also, this current administration has been aggressively downsizing. The workforces of the

03:28federal financial regulatory agencies and the Doge guys have directed other regulatory agencies,

03:34including the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, as well as the Office of the Comptroller of the

03:39Currency, to cut its bank examination staff. And I'm sure with your experience, you know that this

03:46could reduce scrutiny over our banking system. So the question is, do you agree that downsizing

03:50supervisory staff at the Fed and other regulatory agencies could threaten the safety and soundness

03:56of the American banking system? Senator Alsterbrooks, I appreciate the question, and I look forward to

04:03meeting you at some point in the future to discuss these issues that might be important to you.

04:08I do believe that our examination staffs are of the most importance when we're talking about how we

04:15execute our responsibilities under supervision for our bank, for the safety and stability and soundness

04:22of the banking system. So if I were to do a review of our supervision and regulation division,

04:28should I be confirmed? I would certainly be very sensitive to the fact that we need to be able to

04:33fully and effectively implement our responsibilities for bank regulation. And so indiscriminately firing

04:41the men and women who are responsible for that, you would agree would threaten the soundness of our system?

04:46It seems as though it would be important to understand the composition of the workforce,

04:51and ensure that those that were subject to any removal would be appropriately made.

04:59Okay, it looks like my time is going. I yield. Thank you so much.

Category

Transcript

Recommended